Travel time between Delhi University's north and south campuses will be cut to 40 minutes (PTI)
Travel time between Delhi University's two campuses -- one in north and the other in south Delhi, some 20 kilometres apart -- will be cut to less than 40 minutes, now that Delhi Metro's Pink Line has connected these two points with a single interchange on the Yellow Line.
Hundreds of students will save time as they need to change their train only once at Azadpur metro station in order to reach either campus.
On any day with heavy traffic, it takes over one-and-a-half hour to go by road from north to south campus via Ring Road, which runs on the periphery of the national capital and enters and exits the city at several locations where heavy traffic jam is frequent.
The 20-km-long stretch of the Pink Line will open on Wednesday, Delhi Metro officials said.
Earlier, students coming from north campus had to take multiple trains and last-mile buses or autorickshaws to reach colleges in south campus at Satya Niketan; some would take the premium Airport Metro line to Dhaula Kuan, 5 km from the south campus hub at Satya Niketan, and go by road or walk.
Now the Majlis Park-Durgabai Deshmukh south campus section of the Pink Line will ease travel for students starting Wednesday. The north campus metro station falls on the Yellow Line. Students going to either direction can change trains at Azadpur metro station on the yellow line.
"The two DU campuses are now connected to each other on the Delhi Metro network for the first time. It will help in cutting travel time for commuters, but benefit students particularly, who had to travel mostly by road till now," a senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation or DMRC officer said.
From Vishvavidyalaya metro station in north campus to Durgabai Deshmukh south campus station, it will take a little less than 40 minutes, including time for interchange at Azadpur station, DMRC executive director of corporate communications Anuj Dayal said.
The 21.56 km-long Majlis Park Durgabai Deshmukh south campus metro corridor is scheduled to be flagged off by housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday.
People can take the trains starting 6 pm on Wednesday, a metro official said. This line has 12 stations, of which eight are elevated and the rest underground.
"Initially, trains will be operated with a frequency of 3 minutes and 28 seconds between south campus and Shakurpur stations during peak time and 4 minutes during off-peak hours. Between Shakurpur and Majlis Park stations, trains will run with a frequency of 5 minutes and 12 seconds during peak time and 6 minutes during off-peak hours," the DMRC said, adding a total of 19 trains will do the heavy lifting on the entire section.
With inputs from PTI