Delhi: If you are planning to board the next Metro to Gurgaon, be ready to lose your mobile phone connectivity. Also, you will have to guard your belongings, as there are no CCTV cameras on the stretch, connecting HUDA city centre and Qutub Minar.
Delhi Metro officials associated with the project said mobile phone signals may be a problem across the stretch as there are few mobile towers in the area and most mobile networks do not work in the region.
"We cannot do anything about it. However, we will talk to the cellular operators about the matter," a Metro official said.
CISF, which guards the Delhi Metro network, has already trained a force for the stretch. "Around 500 personnel will be made available for the Gurgaon-Qutub Minar line. DFMDs, X-ray baggage screening machines and other security gadgets have been installed. So, there will not be any laxity on our part," assured a CISF official.
Another problem for Metro riders on this line would be the absence of close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. "We have completed the cabling work but are yet to install cameras. It will take some time to make them functional and connecting them all to a central control room," the official added.
However, in the absence of CCTVs, the commuters will have to remain alert about their belongings.
The fully elevated section consists of ten Metro Stations namely Qutub Minar, Chhattarpur, Sultanpur, Ghitorni, Arjangarh, Guru Dronacharya, Sikanderpur, M. G. Road, IFFCO Chowk and HUDA City Centre.
The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is planning to run connecting bus services from Qutub Minar Metro station to Central Secretariat Metro station from 6.15 am to 11.45 pm.
A total of 25 lifts and 31 escalators have been installed in the nine Metro Stations on the corridor to provide easy access to the commuters.
Passenger conveniences/toilets have been provided at all stations in the unpaid area.
Five trains would be running on this stretch with a frequency of approximately 12 minutes which will be subsequently increased if need be, keeping in mind the ridership pattern on the line. One extra train will be kept as standby for emergency use.
The time taken to travel from one end to the other end of the corridor will be approximately 27 minutes only.