New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first-ever driverless train operations on the Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line on Monday. He said metro train services will be extended to 25 cities by 2025 from the current 18.
The driverless trains will be fully automated, which will eliminate the possibility of human error, the government has said, adding that after the start of driverless services on the Magenta Line (Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden), the Pink Line (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar) of Delhi Metro is expected to have driverless operations by mid-2021.
In his address via video-conferencing, he said the launch of the driverless train and start of the National Common Mobility Card, also inaugurated by him on Monday, at the Airport Express Line of the Delhi Metro are an attempt to make urban development future ready.
“In 2014, only 248 km of metro lines were operational in the country and today it is about three times, more than 700 kilometres. By the year 2025, we are working to expand it to 1,700 km,” he said.
Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the National Common Mobility Card facility on the Airport Express Line via video conferencing today. The NCMC facility is a major milestone in enhancing the comfort and mobility of passengers. #MetroRevolution pic.twitter.com/4mVGEfHU3Y
— Delhi Metro Rail Corporation I कृपया मास्क पहनें😷 (@OfficialDMRC) December 28, 2020
The prime minister said these figures are a proof of ease of living in the lives of crores of Indians and an evidence of the fulfilment of the aspirations of the citizens. Metro rail is a great way to reduce pollution and has taken thousands of vehicles off roads, he said.
The government formulated the metro policy for the first time and implemented it with an all-round strategy, he said.
The Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) between Delhi and Meerut will reduce the distance between the two cities to less than an hour, he said, adding that for cities with fewer passenger numbers, work is being done on the MetroLite version.
MetroLite version would cost 40% less than the normal metro while Metro Neo is being developed in cities with less ridership.
This would be built at the cost of 25% of the normal metro, he said, adding that water metro would be an out of the box thinking for cities with large water bodies. This will provide last mile connectivity to the people near the islands.
Touching on the National Common Mobility Card, he said this will give integrated access to commuters wherever they travel and whichever public transport they take. His government has been working to offer integrated services to citizens in different fields so as to save their time and simplify complicated exercises, he said and referred to measures like FASTag cards, one nation one gas grid, seamless gas connectivity, GST and one nation one ration card.
The National Common Mobility Card, which will be fully operationalised on the Airport Express Line, will enable anyone carrying a RuPay-Debit Card issued from any part of the country to travel on the route using it.