Reliance Infra-led Delhi Airport Metro to close from Sunday

New Delhi, Jul 6: Reliance Infrastructure-led Delhi Airport Metro Express will close down from Sunday for an unspecified period apparently due to technical problems and financial losses, a move that would affects hundreds of passengers who were relying on this corridor to reach the airport without any hassles.

The country's first Public-Private-Partnership Metro project has had a tumultuous journey in the past 16 months after it first began operations in Feb, 2011. "The Delhi Metro has received a communication from the concessionaire this evening that they intend to stop services from Sunday," Delhi Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal said.

However, he did not give any reason why the Reliance Infrastructure took the extreme step of closing down the Metro services for an unspecified period. The Reliance Infra-led company has been suffering loses as it was not able to reach its intended targets in terms of profit and ridership. However, there was no word from the concessionaire.

Efforts made by PTI to reach Reliance Infra officials failed. It is understood that the company would come out with a public notice tomorrow, specifying reasons for its step. Dayal said the Delhi Metro would be asking them to intimate the date by which they would be resuming services after carrying out the rectifications required on the line.

The Line has also been encountering several technical problems and was not able to run trains at the promised speed of 120 kmph. While it was run at 105 kmph in the beginning, the speed was brought down to 90 kmph due to some technical issues a few months back.

The high-speed Metro corridor, the country's first Public-Private-Partnership Metro network, connects the city centre of Connaught Place with the swanky Terminal-3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in just 18 minutes.

The Airport Express Metro currently has a ridership of over 15,000 passengers a day and is popular among thousands of fliers who used the Metro to reach the airport and nearby areas without any hassles.

PTI