New Delhi:
Decks have been cleared for opening of the metro line from Qutub Minar to Gurgaon this week after the DMRC got the mandatory clearance certificate, ending the satellite town's long wait for an effective transport link to the national Capital.
The 14.47 km corridor connecting the millennium city with south Delhi is likely to be inaugurated by Wednesday by Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her Haryana counterpart Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Sources said the exact date of the inauguration will be known on Monday as the DMRC got the certificate only on Saturday.
DMRC had on Saturday received the mandatory no objection certificate from the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) R K Kardam who inspected the line on Wednesday and Thursday.
It is learnt that Kardam has asked the DMRC to make some changes on the line, which will be carried out by the Metro before it opens the line.
Once the services start, Gurgaon will become the second satellite city to get Metro connectivity after Noida, where it reached last November.
The people of Gurgaon have been waiting for an effective transport system to travel to and from Delhi and the launch of Metro services are likely to ease some pressure on road traffic.
The DMRC will initially put eight trains on the line at a frequency of five minutes and once the entire corridor opens; there will a total of 60 trains at a frequency of three to four minutes.
Earlier, the DMRC had planned to inaugurate the entire stretch from Central Secretariat-Gurgaon at one go. But now the 27-km corridor will be thrown open in two phases.
The 13 km line connecting Qutub Minar with Central Secretariat is likely to be opened by mid-July. Ultimately, the line will be integrated with the existing Line 2 (Jehangirpuri-Central Secretariat).
Once the entire section becomes operational, passengers can hope to reach Gurgaon in around an hour from Connaught Place in the heart of Delhi.
The Central Secretariat-HUDA City Centre line, built at a total cost of Rs 3,720 crore, is expected to add over 3.4 lakh people to the Metro system by 2011.