I May Not Continue After 2010: Metro Man

DMRC chief E Sreedharan is a man in a hurry. There's the second phase of the Delhi Metro project to be completed before the Commonwealth Games and work for the third phase to be started. In an exclusive interview to MiD DAY, the 77-year-old talked about his one-year extension as DMRC managing director and the extension of the Metro Express Link between CP and airport up to Gurgaon

DMRC chief E Sreedharan is a man in a hurry. There's the second phase of the Delhi Metro project to be completed before the Commonwealth Games and work for the third phase to be started. In an exclusive interview to MiD DAY, the 77-year-old talked about his one-year extension as DMRC managing director and the extension of the Metro Express Link between CP and airport up to Gurgaon

Your tenure will get over this year. Will you be continuing as the managing director till the completion of Delhi Metro Phase-II?

My tenure has been extended up to December 2010. Earlier, it was till June 2009. I received the extension letter three-four months back. Delhi Metro Phase-II is expected to be over by September-October, 2010.

Delhi has a night life now. Is there any possibility of increasing metro timings beyond 11 pm?
When we extended the timings up to 11 pm, we did not anticipate there would be such a rush. We thought we are extending timings unnecessarily. However, later we found there was a sudden jump in numbers when timings were increased up to 11 pm. But we cannot go beyond 11 pm. Not many people travel after that. We need time for the maintenance of trains, tracks, elevators etc. No country runs metro services 24X7. We may increase timings up to midnight, though not immediately.
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The number of passengers is increasing. Commuters don't get seats for up to one hour while travelling to Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad. Is there any possibility of increasing seating capacity?
The moment you put more seats, the carrying capacity comes down. When we started, the travel time was almost 15 minutes. Travel time is definitely increasing. However, in future there will also be direct routes. For example, there will be a direct route between Noida and Dwarka in the next phase. In third and fourth phases, there will be shortcuts to reduce travel time.

DMRC was planning to construct hotels in the city. What is the status of that project?
There will be a five-star hotel at Dwarka, which will be opened before the Commonwealth Games in 2010. We have tied up with the Tatas for the project. Another one will come up at Azadpur for which tenders have been floated. The third hotel will be at Janakpuri in west Delhi.

How many kilometres are expected to be covered in Phase-III? Do you think recession will have any negative impact on the project?
One hundred and twenty kilometres will be constructed in Phase-III. The Express Link between CP and airport will be extended up to Gurgaon. We have sent these details to the Delhi government. Their nod is yet to come. Engineering survey for three lines is being done. We will complete the studies for at least two lines in the next four months, by the time the government's nod comes. There will be continuity in construction activity.u00a0 I don't think recession will have any negative impact. The government is committed to push through huge infrastructure projects mainly to overcome recession.

Hyderabad Metro was mired in a controversy recently over allotment of 'extra' land to the developer. Are you satisfied with the pace and quality of work in metro projects in other cities?
The Mumbai Metro project is going smooth. The Anil Ambani-led group is doing Line -I and they are doing well. They have bagged the contract for Line-II between Charkok-Bandra-Mankhurd as well, last week. Chennai is also doing fine. However, the pace of work in Bangalore could have been better. Kolkata Metro is also doing a good job.

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