NEW DELHI: With the opening of the Central Secretariat to Mandi House metro section, the average footfall at the busy Rajiv Chowk station has decongested approximately by one lakh commuters.
According to a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson, the average footfall at Rajiv Chowk and Central Secretariat metro station before the opening of the Central Secretariat to Mandi House section was approximately five lakh and two lakh respectively.
After the opening of the section, the average footfall at these stations is now approximately 4 lakh and 1.60 lakh respectively and both stations are decongested by one lakh and 40,000 passengers respectively.
The three-km long stretch between Central Secretariat and Mandi House is the first section under phase three of the Metro’s construction and was thrown open to public on June 26 by Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu.
With this line, the commuters on Badarpur-Central Secretariat Line, connecting Noida and Vaishali, are now able to change trains at Mandi House and don’t have to do it twice, like earlier, at Central Secretariat and Rajiv Chowk stations.
The average ridership of Janpath and Mandi House is approximately 5,000 and 12,500 respectively and the average footfall at Mandi House as an interchange station is now approximately 1.60 lakh, the DMRC spokesperson said.
The line is expected to benefit about 70,000 additional commuters traveling to parts of Connaught Place, Janpath, National School of Drama, High Court, Bengali Market and Barakhamba Road, among others.
There are two interchange stations on this section – Central Secretariat and Mandi House.–PTI