For Higher Ridership, Metro-III will Link Shopping Hubs

Taking cue from the high footfall at stations near marketplaces and commercial centres, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is plotting several of its Phase-III stations in major commercial areas.

Important shopping centres like South Extension, Sarojini Nagar, Janpath, Daryaganj, Vasant Kunj malls will all be linked on the upcoming lines.

The Mukundpur to Yamuna Vihar corridor, which runs along the Outer Ring Road, will connect South Extension, Sarojini Nagar and Munirka and link them to Vasant Kunj malls.

The Central Secretariat to Kashmere Gate corridor, too, has been planned carefully to link important commercial hubs like Janpath, Daryaganj and Nai Sarak. It will have a station at Jama Masjid, which is expected to ease pressure off the Chandni Chowk station. Chandni Chowk is the third busiest station on the Jahangirpuri to HUDA City Center line.

According to estimates, the daily average ridership on stations like Rajiv Chowk, MG Road in Gurgaon, Noida City Center, Karol Bagh, Malviya Nagar, Nehru Place and Lajpat Nagar is the highest on the respective corridors.

Rajiv Chowk station sees the highest footfall on a daily basis, as around 1,10,000 commuters use the station. The high ridership is attributed to the station being an interchange point and its proximity to Connaught Place.

The MG Road, Chandni Chowk and Malviya Nagar Metro stations, are the busiest on the Jahangirpuri to HUDA City Center corridor. The MG Road station, flanked by two shopping malls, has a daily ridership of 42,000 and is the 14th busiest station out of a total of 34 on the corridor. Chandni Chowk, at a ridership of 1,10,000 commuters, is the third busiest while Malviya Nagar, which caters to the Saket mall cluster, is the 18th busiest station with a ridership of 30,700 commuters.