I spend 2 hours in the metro daily on my way to work; 5 days a week. In a year (52 weeks) it sums up to 520 hours of metro ride. So out of 365 days I spent 21. 6 days inside metro. This finding bothered me and to some point suffocates me. I could have taken a sabbatical or could have done something useful with all that time. But that's all part of the city life.
- A Metro Station and streams of vehicles beneath
- A metro arriving at a station
- Escalators at a metro station
My first metro ride was back in 2006. Now, I can’t even imagine living and working in the city without it. There are many people in the city who traverse from one end of the city to the other daily. Imagine taking a bus ride from DU to Gurgaon or Noida or Dwarka. It would take at least 2-3 hours sans traffic. With metro I can be accurately on time any given day. Metro has reduced the travel time immensely. The air conditioned train is a great boon during the hot summer in Delhi. Now, I can reach my office in formals just the way I leave home. It has made life much easier for Delhiites.
Delhi’s metro defines one important facet of the city and is one of the best things to have happened to Delhiites. It has ushered Delhi into a new era. The city is neck above other Indian cities and they have a lot catching up to do. Delhi Metro’s covers 192.7 km in the Delhi NCR which is by far the best and the longest metro coverage in India. Other cities which have metro facilities like Kolkota and Bangalore have significantly lesser coverage.
Almost all of Delhi and NCR areas are now connected by metro. From the Jahangirpuri station to Huda City Centre and Noida City Centre to the Dwarka station, Delhi’s Metro has given a new leash of life to the rather congested city. Travelling is much more fun than it used to be. The Airport Metro Express from New Delhi station to IGI Airport scythes though the city and huge area of reserved forest. It is one of the most enjoyable routes in Delhi.
First construction work started in 1998 and the first route was opened in 2002. The Red Line was than followed by Yellow line in 2004. Blue Line was built in 2005, the Green and Violet Line in 2010 and Delhi Metro Express in 2011. The construction work for Phase III has begun in mid 2012. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) under the leadership of Dr. E. Sreedharan has been credited for the success and for changing the face of Delhi public transport. Today it serves 2.6 million populations daily.
Even after all these years of metro rides, I occasionally enjoy the experience. Nothing beats the experience of swishing past the concrete jungle high above the buildings just about sundown.
