METRO CHIEF UNHAPPY WITH AIRPORT LINE
Mahendra Kumar Gupta
Sreedharan, who inspected the stations and the trains on the corridor for over two hours in the morning, stressed the need for increasing the frequency on the Line that connects the city’s shopping hub of Connaught Place with the Indira Gandhi International Airport for the convenience of fliers and other commuters.
The Delhi Metro chief, who inspected the Airport Line for the first time after its inauguration last month, boarded the train at New Delhi Station and travelled up to the terminating station of Dwarka Sec-21 and pointed out several things like less frequency, lack of proper signage and announcements, DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said.
In its response, the Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited, the Reliance Infra-led consortium that runs the corridor, said it will increase the train frequency from the current 20 minutes once the traffic on the line picks up.
The Airport Express Line, which takes passengers from CP to IGI in just 18 minutes, was thrown open to the public on February 23 and since then only a little more than 7,000 people have been using the line everyday.
"He got down at all the operational stations on the corridor and personally inspected the amenities available for the commuters till 11 AM," Dayal said.
Out of the total six stations, only four – New Delhi, Shivaji Stadium, IGI Airport and Dwarka Sec-21 are now operational.
Two other stations – Dhaula Kuan and Delhi Aero City -- are likely to be made operational next month.
Dayal said the DMRC chief "was disappointed with the present frequency of 20 minutes". Currently, six trains on the corridor run at a frequency of 20 minutes from 6 AM to 10 PM.
The DMRC chief also wanted the maximum speed of the train to be increased to the promised speed of 120 km per hour as trains currently run only at 105 km per hour.
For this, the concessionaire’s response is that the application for increasing the speed is already with the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) and his nod is awaited.
"Once approved by the CMRS, RDSO will conduct the speed trial at 120 km per hour", a spokesperson of the company said.
Dayal said "Sreedharan expressed his dissatisfaction about the passenger amenities including the lack of tea/ coffee vending machines that are yet to be provided at the stations.
He said the stations must have refreshment kiosks for the convenience of the commuters.
However, the DAMEPL says all these things will be taken care of when the retail outlets are open.
Sreedharan also pointed to the fact that there is no mobile connectivity in the underground sections which causes severe inconvenience to commuters and wanted these to be rectified.
Dayal said the DMRC chief also pointed out that the lack of proper signage was causing inconvenience to the commuters and noticed that the announcements made inside the trains and at the stations were not adequate and were not giving the correct information on some occasions.
He also said there should be seamless platform to platform connectivity for the commuters coming from the Delhi Metro network to the Airport link and vice versa at the Dwarka Sector 21 Metro station.
DAMEPL said it has put sufficient signage and will look into the announcement problem.
Sreedharan, who inspected the stations and the trains on the corridor for over two hours in the morning, stressed the need for increasing the frequency on the Line that connects the city’s shopping hub of Connaught Place with the Indira Gandhi International Airport for the convenience of fliers and other commuters.
The Delhi Metro chief, who inspected the Airport Line for the first time after its inauguration last month, boarded the train at New Delhi Station and travelled up to the terminating station of Dwarka Sec-21 and pointed out several things like less frequency, lack of proper signage and announcements, DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said.
In its response, the Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited, the Reliance Infra-led consortium that runs the corridor, said it will increase the train frequency from the current 20 minutes once the traffic on the line picks up.
The Airport Express Line, which takes passengers from CP to IGI in just 18 minutes, was thrown open to the public on February 23 and since then only a little more than 7,000 people have been using the line everyday.
"He got down at all the operational stations on the corridor and personally inspected the amenities available for the commuters till 11 AM," Dayal said.
Out of the total six stations, only four – New Delhi, Shivaji Stadium, IGI Airport and Dwarka Sec-21 are now operational.
Two other stations – Dhaula Kuan and Delhi Aero City -- are likely to be made operational next month.
Dayal said the DMRC chief "was disappointed with the present frequency of 20 minutes". Currently, six trains on the corridor run at a frequency of 20 minutes from 6 AM to 10 PM.
The DMRC chief also wanted the maximum speed of the train to be increased to the promised speed of 120 km per hour as trains currently run only at 105 km per hour.
For this, the concessionaire’s response is that the application for increasing the speed is already with the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) and his nod is awaited.
"Once approved by the CMRS, RDSO will conduct the speed trial at 120 km per hour", a spokesperson of the company said.
Dayal said "Sreedharan expressed his dissatisfaction about the passenger amenities including the lack of tea/ coffee vending machines that are yet to be provided at the stations.
He said the stations must have refreshment kiosks for the convenience of the commuters.
However, the DAMEPL says all these things will be taken care of when the retail outlets are open.
Sreedharan also pointed to the fact that there is no mobile connectivity in the underground sections which causes severe inconvenience to commuters and wanted these to be rectified.
Dayal said the DMRC chief also pointed out that the lack of proper signage was causing inconvenience to the commuters and noticed that the announcements made inside the trains and at the stations were not adequate and were not giving the correct information on some occasions.
He also said there should be seamless platform to platform connectivity for the commuters coming from the Delhi Metro network to the Airport link and vice versa at the Dwarka Sector 21 Metro station.
DAMEPL said it has put sufficient signage and will look into the announcement problem.
Sudha Iyer
- Here is the article that appeared today in HT. Please ignore the earlier one ciruclated.
- 3 May 2012
- Hindustan Times (Delhi)
- HT Correspondent htrep...@hindustantimes.com
Metro chief gives the thumbs down to Airport Metro, says no PPP in future
NEW DELHI: Airport Metro Express is being run in a commercial manner, not with ‘commuters first’ attitude which the DMRC has — this is what the Delhi Metro chief Mangu Singh had to say about the 22.7km swanky Metro service running on public-private partnership (PPP) model.
He pointed out several shortcomings and noted that the business model adopted by the private concessionaire has not worked well due to slowdown.He said DMRC will never go for a private-public-partnership for any Metro project in future.
“There are many shortcomings and they are not up to our expectations. Actually only government organisations can run passenger railway systems successfully,” Singh said.
Reliance Infrastructure had earlier promised to increase the speed to 120km per hour, but did not get permission from the commissioner of Metro rail safety. Another reason behind Reliance’s poor performance is its high attrition rate, Singh said. “Almost 60 to 70 per cent of the people who were part of the launch team have left,” he added.
A spokesperson of Reliance Infrastructure, said: “Reliance Metro is a professionally run project and is at par with international standards in terms of passenger convenience and latest technology. Being the first high-speed Metro, checks and balances have been put in place to prevent any untoward incident. Issues related to operations are discussed with DMRC.”
The Metro chief, however, hinted that the company may get to work on the proposed extension of Airport Metro Express to Gurgaon. “We do not have many options as it would be the extension of the existing line. We will work out a model where we are able to go for an open tender,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, he also told Reliance Infrastructure that it had already paid a huge penalty (liquidity damage) of R43.375 crore for failing to make the service operational on scheduled time and is yet to pay it the remaining R17 crore.
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 08:57:30 +0530
Subject: METRO CHIEF UNHAPPY WITH AIRPORT LINE
From: mkgup...@gmail.com
To: Dwarka-r...@googlegroups.com
REJIMON C K
DF/2012/DMRC/4/001
Application Under Right to Information Act 2005
To:
Public Information Officer & Transparency Officer
Mr. Sharat Sharma,
Executive Director ( Electrical),
7th Floor, Metro Bhawan,
Barakhamba Road,
Delhi- 110001,
Phone : 011-23417920 (Telefax)
Dear Sir,
Subject : Application under Right to Information Act.
DMRC- DAMEPL - Delhi Airport Metro Express Pvt. Ltd – Agreement and Operation
Please provide following information under Right to information Act 2005.
:
1. Please provide the webpage link to access the complete PPP Project Contract or Signed Documents of Agreement with Reliance Consortium (Reliance Infrastructure Limited) called DAMEPL and DMRC for running Airport Metro Express Service. This must be disclosed under suo moto disclosure Section 4 of RTI Act 2005.
2. In case the same is not uploaded, please provide reason recorded in the FILES and Notings for not uploading the above document in public domain and name of the officer who decided this decision.
3. Please provide the copies of the last Inspection Reports submitted by Ex- MD of DMRC Shri. E Sreedhran stating serious deficiency and demanded speed improvement.
4. As per agreement what is the minimum speed set for the Sector 21- Airport-New Delhi Airport Express Metro Cooridoor.
5. What is the current average speed maintained by DAMEPL as per DMRC records.
6. Please provide list of staffs who deals with Operations and Grievances in DMRC who deal with DAMEPL Metro Opertion.
7. Please provide the status and implementation of various finding by DMRC on the said route improvement and facilities for customers.
8. Please provide the name and designation of the staffs responsible in DMRC for supervision of the implementation various recommendation made by DMRC and other agencies.
9. Please provide total number of complaints that DMRC received concerning the service deficiency or other issue concerning DAMEPL and steps taken by redress these grievances.
10. Please provide the status of Sector 21 Metro station parking.
a. As per records total FAR area of the Sector 21
b. As per records and in compliance with MPD2021 and Building Byelaw how many car parking space to be created by DMRC in line with Equal Car Space provision of MPD 2021.
c. Please provide expected date of completion of Parking Lot for this Transport Hub Metro Station.
d. Please provide list of steps taken by DMRC to redress the current Parking issue.
e. Please provide total area available to DMRC in Sector 21, Dwarka.
f. Please provide the details of the building constructed at Sector 21 opposite to SPG Complex by DAMEPL on DMRC land and its usage and purpose.
--
Note:
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to Dwarka-residen...@googlegroups.com
--
Sudha Iyer
regards,
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 11:30:46 +0530
Subject: Re: [Dwarka Forum] RE: Correct Article - METRO CHIEF UNHAPPY WITH AIRPORT LINE
From: reji...@gmail.com
To: dwarka-r...@googlegroups.com
Mahendra Kumar Gupta
Sudha Iyer
We all have it within us..only need a bit of push and encourangements to do things correctly. With so much "jagrukta"..I am sure people will wake up and act..."Jago Grahak Jao..Jago Deshwasion Jago".
Jai ho..!
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 11:36:34 +0530
Subject: Re: [Dwarka Forum] RE: Correct Article - METRO CHIEF UNHAPPY WITH AIRPORT LINE
From: mkgup...@gmail.com
To: dwarka-r...@googlegroups.com