Special to the Express: My 25 years with the Delhi Metro

Initially, few believed the DMRC would succeed and the Delhi Metro would become a reality. It was common to hear it would be a white elephant where construction would go on for years.

The opening of the first line for passenger operations on December 25, 2002, changed this perception forever.

It was a quantum jump in the transportation scenario in India, with a fully automated air-conditioned, highly sophisticated signalling, electrical and operational system at par, if not better than, the existing Metros in the world, built within cost and before time.

On the first day, it looked like the entire city had descended to take a ride on this new toy, which promised much to Delhiites who had been travelling in rickety non-AC transport. The section chosen was socio-economically challenging as people of the city were not used to using escalators, automated fare collection gates, and contactless tokens/ smart cards. They were afraid they would get stuck in the doors; I have seen many people hesitant to enter the station in the initial days. We had to place volunteers at many points initially to assure and familiarise the public about our systems.

Nukkad nataks/street plays were held on the streets of Tis Hazari, Seelampur, Welcome, Shastri Park, Kashmere Gate, etc, where things such as escalators were explained in the local language as ‘bijli ki sidi’. This old-fashioned communication really worked.

To be honest, on the first day, many sophisticated systems were struggling to work, and the DMRC, anticipating this, had done backup planning in every area. Paper tickets were printed and distributed as smart cards/tokens were not working on the first day, and operations were also run with line side signals till the system stabilised. It is to the credit of the DMRC that though the system was under pressure, we did not have to close down even for a single day, as has been the experience in many International Metros in their initial days.

There was so much rush in the initial week that the DMRC had to take out an advertisement in newspapers advising the public to come gradually as the Metro is permanent and here to stay.

Subsequently, the DMRC was opening sections of 8-10 km almost every six months till the completion of phase-I, two years and nine months ahead of schedule.
In the last 20 years, the DMRC has marked a punctuality of over 99%, and today we run over 350 trains of four, six and eight coaches with a frequency in peak hour of less than three minutes.

Initially, the DMRC started with an automatic train protection system, which was upgraded to automatic train operation, in which the role of the driver decreases. Today, on some lines, it is possible to run trains without a driver, which is the most advanced Metro operation system in the world.

Outside China, no city in the world has expanded the way DMRC has, with a network of 391 km and 289 stations built in such a short span.

As a person born and brought up in Delhi, the Metro is a dream come true as it provided a socially and culturally world-class transport system that is safe for everybody. In 2010, women-only coaches were started as we were receiving complaints of harassment from some passengers. This decision was taken across the table during a discussion by Dr Sreedharan and myself.

Keeping the Metro clean has been a challenge as the climate in the city is extremely dusty and cleaning gangs are deployed round the clock at all stations and depots to maintain the sparkle Delhiites have come to expect.

Like any technical system, the Delhi Metro has also experienced its share of glitches at times. Our commuters, however, have always expected hassle-free travel, and patience runs thin at the slightest of interruptions. Suicides and items getting tangled in our overhead wires also lead to delays, which are beyond the control of any Metro system. But the bottom line remains that the Metro, in the last 20 years of operations, continues to be the most safe, reliable, punctual and environmentally friendly commuting option for people in Delhi-NCR.

(The author is Principal Executive Director with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd)