The Delhi Metro has officially stepped into its adulthood as it completes 18 years in service, said the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Thursday.
"The operations on the Delhi Metro network today stepped into adulthood, as DMRC completed 18 years of commencing passenger operations since the year 2002. On December 24, 2002, operations on the 8.4-kilometre-long Shahdara-Tis Hazari section was flagged off and passenger services were started from the next day," a press release issued by the DMRC stated.
In a series of tweets, it hoped to grow more with 18 years of legacy behind.
"And as the network grows, we will grow more colourful and vibrant!," the DMRC tweeted, adding: "Delhi Metro is by far the largest metro in India and the 2nd oldest in the country."
With a network of 390 kilometres spanning 11 lines, the Delhi Metro is among the largest Metro networks anywhere in the world.
As per the DMRC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the country's first-ever fully automated driverless train service on 37 km Magenta Line (Janakpuri West to Botcal Garden) and will also launch a fully operational National Common Mobility Card for travel on Airport Express Line on December 28.
The expansion of the network has also been among the fastest in the world, as more than 380 kilometres of new lines have been added since 2002. During the pre-COVID times, about 65 lakh journeys were being performed on weekdays on the Delhi Metro making it the mass transportation backbone of the National Capital Region.
Today, about 350 train sets operate on the Delhi Metro system for 18 hours a day and perform more than 5,000 trips across the 285 stations on the network maintaining consistent punctuality of over 99.9 percent.
In March, the services of the Delhi Metro were halted for the first time ever to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, when large-scale renovation work was executed on the Dilshad Garden-Rithala Red Line corridor, the DMRC's oldest corridor. Subsequently, from September 7, 2020, the services were resumed in a graded manner following all COVID protocols.
( With inputs from ANI )
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