With the coach conversions, 32 of the 41 trains plying on this corridor connecting Faridabad's Escorts Mujesar station to the ITO in the heart of Delhi have six coaches. (File Photo)
Altogether 16 four-coach trains have been converted into six-coach ones on the Violet Line to cope with the rise in passenger rush since the launch of the Badarpur extension that took Delhi Metro services to the satellite township of Faridabad.
With the coach conversions, 32 of the 41 trains plying on this corridor connecting Faridabad's Escorts Mujesar station to the ITO in the heart of Delhi have six coaches.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) authorities said infrastructure at the Faridabad stations is "adequately capable" of handling the passenger rush at present.
The 14 km-long fully elevated section that connects Badarpur to Escorts Mujesar was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September last year.
A Delhi metro official said there were 19 four-coach trains and 16 six-coach trains before the launch of Badarpur extension. Presently, there are 32 six-coach trains while the number of four-coach trains is four.
"In the month of February, the average ridership of the Badarpur - Escorts Mujesar section was 49,481. Escorts Mujesar is the busiest station on the section with over 12,000 passengers," the official said.
The additional coaches are able to carry about 600 more passengers per train trip as a four-coach train has a carrying capacity ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 passengers. On the other hand, a six-coach train is able to carry about 1,800 to 2,100 passengers per train trip.
The nine stations that fall on the extension are Sarai, NHPC Chowk, Mewala Maharajpur, Sector 28, Badkal Mor, Old Faridabad, Neelam Chowk Arjonda, Bata Chowk and Escorts Mujesar.
Two more stations, NCB Colony and Ballabgarh, will be added by 2017.