The Hindu : No increase in Metro fares, says Khurana

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 31, 2003

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No increase in Metro fares, says Khurana

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MAY 30. The Chairman of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Madan Lal Khurana, today declared that there would be no increase in per kilometre fare on Delhi Metro trains even after the existing Shahdara-Tis Hazari corridor is extended up to Tri Nagar in September this year.

Announcing that the 20 per cent discount on Metro travel would continue, Mr Khurana said even though the Delhi Metro has suffered a net operational loss of Rs 26 lakhs in the first three months of this calendar year, it had done well as the route at present was short and therefore did not attract long-distance travellers.

``The Metro will become more profitable as its network expands,'' he said, pointing out that from January to March 2003 it had incurred an expenditure of Rs 4.53 crores on operation, inspection, maintenance and traction and earned Rs 4.27 crores of which Rs 2.49 crore came through ticket sales and Rs 1.78 crores from property development which included advertising, car and scooter parking and rental of shops.

Noting that the ridership had gone up in May, Mr Khurana said the fares have deliberately been discounted to attract more passengers and popularise the system.

He also declared that Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, would lay the foundation stone for Line 3 of Delhi Metro running from Barakhamba Road to Dwarka at Raja Garden Chowk on June 3. The programme would also witness participation of the Union Urban Development Minister, Ananth Kumar, Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi, Vijai Kapoor, Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, Minister of State for Urban Development, P. Radhakrishnan, the Ambassador of Japan to India, Akira Hayashi, Member of Parliament, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, and Delhi Transport Minister, Ajay Maken.

Mr Khurana said the 23.16-km line would serve a large part of New Delhi, West Delhi, and South-West Delhi and would have 22 stations. As the areas served by this line will have a high ridership, it is expected to improve the commercial viability of the project. The Metro Chairman also asserted that henceforth all those being displaced by the project would be properly rehabilitated. As for the shopkeepers of Pachkuian Road, he declared that their demand for taking the Metro line underground beyond Pachkuian Road was unfeasible as it would entail an extra expenditure of over Rs 300 crores and delay the project.

Noting that these shopkeepers -- who actually were rehriwallahs of Pahar Ganj relocated at Pachkuian Road -- were being given shops in a complex coming up nearby on Bhai Veer Singh Marg, Mr Khurana said now they would just have to pay a concessional Rs 5 lakhs once and pay least rent for three years before they become actual owners of the flat. As of now, he said, they were only on "tehbazari'' and actually did not own the land on which their shops existed.

Asserting that the project would not be allowed to be delayed at any cost, Mr Khurana said "politics would not be allowed to come in the way of the prestigious project''.

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