Delhi-NCR's Christmas gift: PM Modi to inaugurate new Magenta metro line today

NOIDA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday inaugurate Delhi Metro's Magenta Line here. Tight security arrangements are in place for the Prime Minister's visit.

The 12.64-km section connects Botanical Garden in Noida to Kalkaji Mandir in south Delhi.

PM Modi will also address a public meeting in Noida.

The elite Special Protection Group, which provides security to the prime minister, has taken control of the premises. Provincial Armed Constabulary and paramilitary forces are part of the security at the venue.

The area has been divided into 15 zones and an officer for each has been appointed. Aerial surveillance will be conducted with the help of helicopters, for which three helipads have been made at Botanical Garden.

On Sunday, the PM said that the Magenta Line is an example of modernising urban transport and making travel between Delhi and Noida faster and convenient.

He took to Twitter saying, "This new line is yet another example of how we are modernising urban transportation. I will also travel on the Metro tomorrow (Monday). This year, I have had the opportunity to inaugurate and travel in the Kochi as well as Hyderabad Metros."

In a first, broad-sized coaches will ply on the standard gauge track of the Magenta Line. Senior DMRC officials also said all coaches to be introduced under Phase-III of the Delhi Metro rail network would be broad-sized only.

"Coaches measuring 3.2 m in width will be in operation on the new Magenta Line. This would also allow 30-40 more passengers than the capacity of coaches running on a standard gauge," a senior DMRC official said.

Presently, carriages, measuring 2.9 m in width are in use on existing standard gauge corridors - Violet Line (Kashmiri Gate-Escorts Mujesar) and Green Line (Kirti Nagar-Mundka), another senior official said.

"This new Magenta Line would thus become the first standard gauge-based corridor to have broad-sized coaches plying on it," he told PTI.

Yellow Line (Samyapur Badli-Huda City Centre) and Blue Line (Dwarka-Noida/Vaishali) are among the broad gauge lines on which wide coaches ply.

The new line has platform screen doors (PSDs) on all nine stations, besides a high-tech signalling system that will allow the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to run trains with enhanced frequency.

While Kalkaji Mandir station falls in Delhi, Botanical Garden station is located in Noida.

The DMRC authorities said that ten trains would operate on this new line, while two would be kept on reserve, one each at Kalkaji Mandir and Botanical Garden stations.

(With inputs from agencies)