File Photo: Delhi Metro Train
The much awaited ITO station of Delhi Metro will be thrown open to commuters on Monday, ending months of wait on the single line ITO-Mandi House section.
"The ITO-Mandi House section will be opened for commercial operations for the public from 6 pm on Monday. The clearance from the Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) to open the section between ITO and Mandi House has been received," said a DMRC statement.
Inspection of the newly constructed Metro section was done by the CMRS on June 2.
Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal will be present on the occasion of flag off ceremony scheduled at 4 pm on Monday.
Train services on the section is estimated to benefit 22,000 passengers daily to begin with and is expected to rise to 31,000 by 2021, enhancing DMRC's annual revenue by Rs 8 crore.
The construction work on the single-line section was completed in January this year. But operations on this 971-metre section were not started as safety inspection could not be carried out as per provisions of the Metro Railway General Rules.
The Urban Development Ministry had amended and notified changes to the Metro Railway General Rules, 2013, to allow operations on single-line sections, which was a major stumbling block in operationalising the line.