The year 2019 was a year of accomplishments for the Delhi Metro. Three new Metro corridors were added to the Delhi Metro network and many new facilities were started for commuters. The following are the main highlights for the year 2019:
- 9th February: A Foot Over Bridge (FOB) connecting the Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus Metro station of Pink Line and Dhaula Kuan Metro station of the Airport Express Line was opened for passengers. The FOB connects the platforms of the Durga Bai Deshmukh South Campus Metro station of Pink Line with the concourse level of Dhaula Kuan Airport line Metro Station.
The FOB is a major technological masterpiece as a record 22 travelators have been installed on it for the convenience of the passengers. There would be very few FOBs in the country with so many state of the art travelators. The 22 travelators (11 X2) have been installed with landing space of about 15 metres in between them. The width of the FOB is about 6.1 metres.
- 8th March: Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi flagged off the Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) to Dilshad Garden Metro Corridor on the Red Line of Delhi Metro. The Prime Minister also travelled in Delhi Metro from Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda) to Kashmere Gate Metro Station.
This 9.63 kilometre long section has 08 stations – Shaheed Nagar, Raj Bagh, Major Mohit Sharma Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, Hindon River and Shaheed Sthal (New Bus Adda). This section is an extension of Rithala to Dilshad Garden on Red Line of Delhi Metro network.
- 9th March: Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi flagged off the Noida City Centre to Noida Electronic City Metro Corridor on the Blue Line of Delhi Metro via remote. This 6.675 kilometre long section has 06 elevated stations.
The names of the stations are: Sector 34, Sector 52, Sector 61, Sector 59, Sector 62 and NOIDA Electronic City. This section is an extension of the Dwarka Sector 21 – Noida City Centre Blue Line of Delhi Metro network.
- 18th April: Delhi Metro started receiving solar power from the Rewa Solar Power Project. The power received from Rewa is being utilised for all the operational requirements of the Delhi Metro. On an average about 345 MU of power will be received from Rewa in a calendar year. To mark the beginning of this new arrangement, DMRC’s Managing Director, Dr. Mangu Singh travelled on a Metro powered by solar energy along with Sh. Manu Srivastava, Chairperson, Rewa Ultra Mega Solar, Sh. Upendra Tripathi, Director General, International Solar Alliance and other senior officials from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Station to Central Secretariat on the violet line.
- 4th June: Delhi Metro became the first ever Metro project in the country to receive power generated from a Waste to Energy plant. DMRC started receiving 2 MW power from a 12 MW capacity Waste to Energy (WtE) plant of M/s East Delhi Waste Processing Company Limited (EDWPCL) set up in Ghazipur.
- 6th August: A pedestrian subway constructed to facilitate entry and exit to the Dabri Mor – Janakpuri South Metro station was opened. The subway is 185 metres long and facilitates pedestrian movement between Sitapuri and the Dabri Mor and Janakpuri C2 block areas. The subway built at a depth of nine metres from the surface also allows those pedestrians to cross the road who do not intend to use the Metro.
- 18th September: The Delhi Metro Training Institute, functioning since 2002 at Shastri Park Depot was upgraded to be known as the Delhi Metro Rail Academy (DMRA). The facility has so far imparted training to around 25,000 DMRC personnel and 2000 personnel from other Metros in India and neighboring countries.
The Academy is now headed by a Dean and each department is led by a Professor. The faculty has been strengthened by a team of full-time Professors, Associate/Assistant Professors and Lecturers. DMRA is a premier institute in the country which is equipped with all modern facilities to impart customized training on every aspect of Project Planning, Implementation and Operations & Maintenance of MRTS.
- 4th October: The Dwarka – Najafgarh Metro section of Delhi Metro’s Grey Line was flagged off for passenger operations by Sh. Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Housing and Urban Affairs and Sh. Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi in the presence of a host of eminent dignitaries.
The 4.295 kilometre long corridor comprises of three stations – Dwarka, Nangli and Najafgarh. This corridor known as the Grey Line is being further extended to Dhansa Bus Stand by another 1.18 kilometres.
- 22nd October: Delhi Metro took over the operations and maintenance of the Rapid Metro Link, Gurugram developed by Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon Limited (RMGL) and Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon South Limited (RMGSL) from 22nd October, 2019.
The 11.6 km long corridor has 11 Metro stations connecting various parts of Gurugram in Haryana with an interchange at Sikanderpur, which connects the corridor with the rest of the Delhi Metro network.
- 18th November: Three leading Airlines – Air Asia, SpiceJet and Go Air started city check in facility from the New Delhi Metro station of the Airport Line. Two other Airlines – Air India and Vistara were already operating this facility in the station earlier.
- 3rd December: DMRC was conferred with this year’s ‘National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities’ (Divyangjan) in recognition of creation of Barrier-free environment for Divyagjan under the category of Government Department or Offices or PSUs or Autonomous Bodies. Dr. Mangu Singh, Managing Director/DMRC received the award on behalf of DMRC from Shri M Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Vice President of India in a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
