Metro trains now running at 120 kmph on Airport Line: DMRC official

Delhi Metro has increased the operational speed of Metro trains on the Airport Express Line to 120 kmph starting Sunday, officials said.

The total journey from New Delhi station to newly-built Yashobhoomi Dwarka Sector 25 station will take about 21 minutes, they said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a metro ride to reach the new station at Dwarka Sector-25. The train he travelled in moved at 120 kmph, so that was in a way a formal start of services with enhanced speed on the Airport Express Line whose extension was also inaugurated by the PM today," a senior DMRC official told PTI.

Modi later on Sunday also inaugurated the first phase of YashoBhoomi, the India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC) in Dwarka.

Earlier the travel time between New Delhi and Dwarka Sector 21 was approximately 22 minutes, which now has been reduced to around 19 minutes between these two stations.

The approximate travel time between New Delhi and Terminal 3 of the Delhi Airport will be about 15 minutes and 30 seconds. Earlier, it was a little more than 18 minutes, the DMRC said.

This "historic increase" in speed of trains on India's fastest metro corridor gradually from 90 kmph to 120 kmph has been made possible by "meticulous planning and time-bound implementation by DMRC's engineers in consultation with a number of other government agencies and domain experts," the DMRC had earlier said.

The extension of Delhi Metro's Airport Express Line from Dwarka Sector 21 to Yashobhoomi Dwarka Sector 25 became operational from 3 pm onwards on September 17, officials said.

Delhi Metro had increased the operational speed of its trains on the Airport Express Line from 90 kmph to 100 kmph on March 22 this year, the officials said.

The speed of the trains was further increased to 110 kmph on June 22, which was in turn increased to 120 kmph on Sunday. The safety certification for the speed increase has already been received earlier this month, the DMRC said.