Delhi Metro's Phase III to save travel time, money

Delhi Metro Sunday said that with the completion of its Phase III, more interchange stations will be available and commuters will be able to save travel time as well as money.

Phase III will connect Majlis Park (Mukundpur) to Shiv Vihar in Line 7 and Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden in Noida in Line 8.

"The criss-crossing of Phase III lines with the existing lines at many places will lead to emergence of several interchange stations, thus shortening the distance between two different parts of the city by up to 15 km at some locations," said an official statement.

At present, there are nine interchange stations - Rajiv Chowk, Kashmere Gate, Central Secretariat, Inderlok, Ashok Park Main, Yamuna Bank, Dwarka Sector 21, New Delhi and Kirti Nagar.

"Once this network becomes fully operational by 2016, Delhi Metro will have 13 more interchange hubs across the city," the statement added.

With the coming up of interchange stations at Karkardooma and Anand Vihar in Phase III, the distance of these stations from nearest Metro station Welcome - now on the Red Line connecting Dilshad Garden with Rithala - will come down drastically to 4.34 km and 5.49 km, respectively, from the earlier 19.26 km and 20.32 km.

"Thus, bringing them closer by almost 15 km will not only save travel time but also help save money for the passengers," it said.

Similarly, with other interchange stations of Phase III, commuters in almost all parts of Delhi will be able to change trains without going to the present interchange stations like Rajiv Chowk and Central Secretariat which fall on Yellow Line connecting Jahangirpuri and Huda City Centre.

With this network, travel time between Gurgaon and Noida will also be reduced by at least 30 minutes.

According to Delhi Metro, the new interchange stations will also help in decongesting the currently operational interchange stations.