Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has lined up a host of measures, including additional trains and extended running hours on a key line, to ensure a smooth ride to the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium for the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony Oct 14, an official said.

DMRC will run additional trains on the Central Secretariat-Sarita Vihar route to tackle the rush for the ceremony. “We have 22 trains running on the line regularly. We also have seven additional trains ready if there is extra rush,” the official said.

DMRC is likely to extend train services on the line till past midnight as it is expecting a huge rush.

Delhi Metro trains ran till 1 a.m. Oct 3, the day of the opening ceremony. If the timings are extended for the closing ceremony as well, it would be the second time that the Metro services have been extended beyond 11 p.m.

“We expect a huge rush due to the strict traffic restrictions during the closing ceremony,” the official added.

Additional signages have been put up at Jangpura and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro stations giving details about the stadium gates.

For commuters headed for the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro Station, the nearest entry to the stadium will be from gate number 14. For commuters alighting at the Jangpura station, gate number 9 will be nearest to the venue, while gate number 6 will be closest for spectators alighting at the Jog Bagh station.

“It will be more convenient for the commuters using Jor Bagh Metro station as the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is providing a free shuttle service from the station to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium,” the official said.

During the first week of the Commonwealth Games, Delhi Metro said it had recorded an average operational punctuality rate of 99.88 percent. DMRC runs 2,808 trips on its network everyday. In the last week, only 24 train trips out of a total of 19,656 were behind schedule, the corporation said.