New Delhi:
The Delhi Airport Metro Express, developed under public-private partnership, today resumed commercial operations,nearly six months after it was shut down on grounds of safety. Reliance Infra, which runs the service, had on Monday announced that the Metro line will begin service from today.
The Airport Express Line provides connectivity from New Delhi Railway Station to Indira Gandhi Airport (T3) terminating at Dwarka Sector 21. Passengers arriving at or boarding flights from Terminal-1 can also avail this service from Aerocity Station.
Passengers can travel on the line at a discounted fare of Rs 30 per trip on Tuesday, Reliance Infra said in a statement yesterday. The Airport Express Line would run from 5.30 am to 11.30 pm daily at a frequency of 15 minutes, the company added.
Baggage check-in for both national and international travel would start shortly, the company said.
In addition to single journey tokens, the Airport Line has introduced new products in the form of Return Journey Tokens and Sunday/Holiday discount tokens while retaining the Monthly passes for regular commuters.
The Delhi Airport Metro line started its commercial operation in February 2011, but services had to be suspended in July 2012 because of defects in civil structures.
"These defects have since been rectified by DMRC and the line was offered for re-inspection to the Commissioner Metro Rail Safety in December 2012...a formal clearance for commercial operation was received on January 18, 2013," the statement from Reliance Infra said on Monday.
The Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) last week gave clearance certificate to the swanky high-speed line, which took 18 minutes for the 23-km journey from New Delhi Railway Station to the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. The same journey by road would take upwards of an hour.
However, now the trip will take more time, as the CMRS has given permission to operate the high-speed line only at 50 kmph.
Before the service's suspension, the trains were running at a speed of 105 kmph.
(With inputs from agencies)