Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) The Delhi Metro will run 15 additional trains to manage the anticipated heavy crowds to the Pragati Maidan Metro station, located near the India International Trade Fair (IITF) venue, a Delhi Metro official said Thursday.

The Delhi Metro will run trains with peak hour frequency from 8 a.m to 9 p.m Nov 19-27, when the trade fair will be open to common public. The fair was only open to business delegates Nov 14-18.

“An additional 15 trains, which are normally withdrawn during off peak hours, will be put into service and will perform about 200 extra train trips every day during the fair,” said the Delhi Metro official.

A total of 43 manual token counters with separate counters for specific token denominations and destinations will be put up at the Pragati Maidan Metro station on all working days.

During weekends and holidays, the number of these counters will go up to 52. To avoid overcrowding, all tokens will be sold from the ground floor only.

“Additional customer facilitation agents (CFAs) will be deployed at busy stations like Central Secretariat, Rajiv Chowk and Kashmere Gate for guiding and managing the crowd in the ticketing area. The tickets for the fair can be purchased from all the Metro stations,” the official said.

Extra security guards are planned to be provided at platforms, AFC gates, escalators, lifts and token counters at Pragati Maidan on weekends. For every token counter, there will be one security guard to streamline and control the crowd.

“Permanent toilets have been constructed near Gate no.3 of Pragati Maidan Metro Station. Around 20 temporary kiosks to provide drinking water and snacks to the visitors will also come up,” he said.

To ensure faster security clearance of the commuters, additional door-frame metal detectors and extra X-Ray machines are installed at the Pragati Maidan metro station.

The average footfall at Pragati Maidan Metro station during IITF 2010 was approximately one lakh passengers per day.

The Delhi Metro, with 160 Metro trains, makes about 2,400 trips per day, traverses about 69,000 km and carries about 18 lakh passengers on working days.