Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday inaugurated the 25-km stretch of Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line that runs between Kalkaji Mandir and Janakpuri West localities, The Times of India reported. The metro line will reduce the travel time between Gurugram and Noida by 30 minutes. At present, it takes 80 minutes to travel between the two cities.
The Magenta Line will also bring the airport’s domestic terminal on the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation network, NDTV reported. The prime attraction on this new metro corridor is a 15.6-metre escalator – the height of a five-storey building – at Janakpuri West station that is possibly India’s tallest.
This line will also bring metro connectivity to Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Indian Institute of Technology. IIT Delhi has, however, moved the Delhi High Court since the station located close it is called the “FIITJEE IIT Metro station”. The institution told the court that the name would mislead people and tarnish its image.
FIITJEE, a private coaching centre, is the sponsor of the Metro station opposite IIT Delhi. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has been allocating naming rights of stations to sponsors since 2014.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the Magenta Line in December amid controversy surrounding the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s decision to not invite Kejriwal to the ceremony. Days before the ceremony, an unmanned train on a trial run on the Magenta Line crashed through a wall at Kalindi Kunj depot in South Delhi. The metro rail authorities suspended four employees for the incident.
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