By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi Metro was the most preferred mode of transport for the closing ceremony of the 19th Commonwealth Games at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, an official said Friday.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesperson Anuj Dayal said: “The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Jangpura and Jorbagh metro stations recorded a total ridership of 45,000. More than half of the spectators actually travelled by the Metro.”
The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium metro station recorded the maximum ridership of 22,000 while 18,000 and 5,000 people used the Jangpura and Jorbagh metro stations, respectively.
“A similar number of people used the Metro to return from the stadium after the closing ceremony,” the spokesperson said.
For the closing ceremony, the Delhi Metro had put up additional signages in the stations, indicating the nearest entry gate numbers of the stadium. Repeated announcements about the same were also made at the stations.
The DMRC, in order to connect to some of the Games venues, constructed the Central Secretariat-Sarita Vihar metro section in a record time of 41 months and opened it Oct 3, the day the Games began.
The Delhi Metro had to run about 92 extra train trips on all the lines Thursday, out of which Central Secretariat-Sarita Vihar metro line alone had 40 extra trips and the trains ran in high frequency of less than two minutes to combat the rush on this line.
Over 150 additional personnel were deputed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Central Secretariat and Jangpura metro stations to assist the commuters.
As many as 38,000 people used the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Metro station and the Jangpura Metro station to reach the venue for the Games opening ceremony Oct 3.
The Delhi Metro had run over 100 extra train trips on all the lines of the network that day and the services had continued till well past midnight.
The Metro runs a fleet of 129 trains on a network of 138 km that has 117 stations across Delhi and its suburbs Noida and Gurgaon.