New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS) Delhi Metro will extend in the first week of January its service to Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi up to Anand Vihar, close to Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
The 6.17 km-line will have five stations at Laxmi Nagar, Nirman Vihar, Preet Vihar, Karkardooma and Anand Vihar. The last two will have parking facilities.

It will take the total length of Delhi Metro network to 96 km.

According to Delhi Metro officials, travelling to Ghaziabad will now become easier.

“There will be an inspection of this line Jan 4. Two to three days after that, it will open for public,” one official told IANS.

“This line will take commuters close to Ghaziabad though it will not cross the Delhi border. We have achieved the target in spite of the collapse of the metro bridge on the line,” the official added.

At Karkardooma, the platform will be at a height of 20 meters, which will be the highest elevated metro station.

Metro authorities said that they will allot three to four trains for this route.

“After its public opening, we expect around 40,000 more commuters to take to Delhi Metro,” the official said.

Delhi Metro, which began services on a small scale in December 2002, now ferries nearly 900,000 commuters every day.