Gurgaon to heart of Delhi in 40 minutes

In one of the most keenly awaited milestones for NCR, Gurgaon got closer to the capital and south Delhi got its first full-fledged Metro link when the 12.53km Central Secretariat-Qutab Minar line was opened to public on Friday. Such was the anticipation around the line’s opening that by evening, trains were running packed to capacity as commuters thronged the newly opened stations for returning home from work. Even as jams were reported on roads with rains causing waterlogging at several places, it took just 40 minutes to travel from Udyog Bhawan to Huda City Centre on the Metro.By 8pm, some 32,000 passengers had travelled the stretch from Udyog Bhawan to Saket, including DMRC chief E Sreedharan who took the train home. The newly opened stretch integrates with the existing Line 2, making it the longest Metro corridor in the city — running 45km between Jehangirpuri in north Delhi and Gurgaon’s Huda City Centre. At 3pm sharp, as the first commuter trains chugged out of the Central Secretariat, Jehangirpuri and Huda City Centre stations simultaneously, the excitement among commuters was palpable.