The capital’s metro system gets new corridor in the east of the city from Yamuna Bank to Anand Vihar. Over 60,000 residents are expected to switch to the metro as it opens for the public today at 6am. The corridor would connect the populated colonies of East Delhi and also benefit the residents of adjoining Ghaziabad.

This forth line of the Delhi metro network bifurcates at Yamuna Bank from the third line, which runs from Dwarka to Noida. Union urban development minister Jaipal Reddy and chief minister Shiela Dikshit on Wednesday inaugurated the new corridor by flagging off the train. Speaking of more corridors to open shortly, E Sreedharan managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
(DMRC) said the Inderlok-Mundka stretch will open next month.

Alternate trains originating from Dwarka will head for Anand Vihar and Noida City Centre respectively with metro station Yamuna Bank as an interchange between the two lines. The new corridor is completely elevated and runs along Vikas Marg with a length of 6.25 km.

The line has five stops namely Laxmi Nagar, Nirman Vihar, Preet Vihar, Karkardooma and Anand Vihar. The stations will also act as foot over bridges (FOB). To give a modern look to the Karkardooma and Anand Vihar Metro stations, exteriors include aluminum composite panel glazing.

The metro is expected to take about 11 minutes as against 45 minutes by road to cever the distance. This corridor is expected to ease traffic by taking load of the road as it has populated residential and commercial areas on the way. Vikas Marg alone has a traffic volume of over 1.5 lakh vehicles daily. The line was briefly delayed because of the accident at Laxmi Nagar in late
2008 and shortage of trains.

Parking facilities are provided at Karkardooma, Anand Vihar and Yamuna Bank stations.

Mr. Sreedharan added “As of now, we are adding a new train to our service every 10 days. Sixteen of 83 new Metro trains ordered have already arrived. All the upcoming Metro lines of Phase-II will be complete before the Commonwealth Games in October, We have a target of opening the entire Gurgaon Metro corridor by May.”