Delhi Metro to soon roll out its first e-auto service

New Delhi, July 12: Delhi Metro would soon roll out its first e-auto service in the national capital, with a batch of 50 such vehicles to be launched from Dwarka Sector-9 station, a move that seeks to boost last mile connectivity for commuters, officials said on Monday.

The decision has also been taken as the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is finding running of its feeder buses "less viable" due to "under utilisation", they said,

"The e-auto service would be launched soon, first for Dwarka sub-city. The first batch of 50 e-autos will be launched from Dwarka Sector-9 station, and a total of 136 such autos will serve the sub-city. This is a step to boost last mile connectivity for metro commuters," DMRC chief Vikas Kumar said.

In his first interaction with journalists after assuming charge as the DMRC chief at the Metro Bhawan here, he also said that running DMRC feeder buses in inner areas is "less viable" due to "under utilisation" buses.

And, the plan now is that DMRC feeders buses would be taken up by the Delhi government's transport department for operations, officials said.

Besides, 136 e-autos planned for the Dwarka sub-city, another 663 e-autos would be gradually rolled out in different areas later, a senior official said.

The first batch of 50 e-autos are likely to be launched from Dwarka Sector-9 station in the first week of August, he said.

Charging point and other arrangements are being made at the station. It will be run via a concessionaire, Kumar said.

Dwarka sub-city has 13 stations, including Dwarka Mor, Dwarka (interchange with Grey Line), Dwarka Sector-14 and Dwarka Sector-21 (interchange with Airport Line) on the Blue Line.

According to DMRC website, there are four routes for Delhi Metro feeder buses -- Kashmere Gate Metro Station to Harsh Vihar; Shastri Park Metro Station to Mayur Vihar Phase-III; Mayur Vihar Phase-III to Harsh Vihar and VishwaVidyalaya Metro Station to Shankarpura Burari.

A little 50 feeder buses run in two clusters at present, according to data shared by officials.