The Standpoint

Delhi Metro – brighter times ahead

By

Abhishek Mukherjee

Today Delhi Metro has become one of the lifelines of a commoner in the capital. For its sophisticated and swift functioning, and an affordable travel of comfort in the air conditioner, people have found everyday life easier. Having set the highest standards of perfection, the recent incidents at Jamrudpur and the derailment of trains have come as a major shock in recent times, yet its achievements can in no way take away the pride that it has been for Delhiites.

Says Kanchan, a regular metro traveller: “Metro has revolutionised the idea of transportation. Office-going is not a pain anymore. Although there is a lot of crowd nowadays, it doesn’t take away the pleasure and the comfort of travel.”

On September 25, the first new ritzy broad gauge metro was opened for passengers. It gave us a sign of things to come – the new metro has temperature and humidity control, close-circuit televisions to monitor each compartment, an external side display on each car indicating the destination station, digital route maps on each door, sound cushion, disc brakes and charging points for cell phones and laptops.

”Delhi Metro introduced the first new series of trains into service today. We are going to get 83 train sets from Germany-based Bombardier. Out of this, nine trains have already arrived. The first train, after undergoing all the trials and testing, was commissioned today,” Sreedharan said.

While addressing reporters at the Patel Chowk metro station, E. Sreedharan, chief of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, mentioned with conviction, “Performance is publicity”. Among the performances that would be synonymous to positive publicity are the unveiling of Yamuna Bank-Noida City Centre line, the Inderlok-Mundka line, the Qutub Minar-Gurgaon line and the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line by August 2010, before the Commonwealth Games begin.

Mr.Sreedharan also clarified that the derailments were because of a human error and fault by a junior engineer, for which he has been penalised. Also, they have received a response from contractors Gammon India for reasons why it should not be blacklisted for two years following the mishap at Jamrudpur in South Delhi. The response is in legal terms and it will take time to finally decide upon a necessary action against them, Sreedharan said.

The DMRC is doubly cautious, strengthening 11 catilever piers in the Noida corridor and conducting extra checks to ensure safety. The measures also include a three-day raining workshop by a team of US Transport planners, to achieve a foolproof metro system that have security measures incorporated at the design, construction and operation stages rather than as an add-on feature. They would like to ensure that they do not let Delhiites down again.

Metro travel, though, has become a rough affair in recent times as trains have been struggling to fit in the huge population of metro passengers. With six-coach metros and a considerable number of new broad gauge ones, travelling would become much more pleasurable.

Time will only really convey whether Delhi Metro can live upto its reputation. No project is perfect, and mishaps and errors are a part of human and machine life. Before being cynical about Delhi Metro’s minor failures in the past months, let us give it a breathing space to let it create its own ‘publicity’ and judge it by its achievements in the coming months.