To ease congestion, DMRC opens third entry entry at Huda City Centre Metro station

To reduce congestion at the Huda City Centre Metro station and ease the entry of passengers to the station, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has opened a third entry gate with ticketing facilities on the Fortis side.

Metro officials said the new entry gate has new ticket counters, ticket vending machines, frisking points and scanning machines.

Huda City Centre is one of the busiest Metro stations on the Yellow Line (Huda City Centre to Samaypur Badli in Delhi), and the average daily footfall at the station at present, according to DMRC, is around 95,000. Hence, there was a need for increasing facilities at the station to ease the entry of commuters. The increase in footfall at the station can be gauged from the fact that in 2016, the average daily footfall at the station was just 52,000.

During the peak hours in the morning and evening, long queues can be seen at the entry points and at the ticket counters.

The new entry has been made from the Sushant Lok-1 side. A DMRC spokesperson said new facilities such as additional ticket counters, ticket vending machines, frisking points/baggage scanners, and AFC gates were inaugurated on Thursday by DMRC managing director Vikas Kumar.

The new entry has five ticket counters, and a large enclosed courtyard where 12 ticket vending machines have been installed. A facility for scanning baggage and frisking passengers has also been set up at this point. “This exclusive entry gate (No.3) will reduce the walking distance to the nearest frisking point. This entry gate at ground level is connected via a 35m passage to the concourse of the station and is also equipped with a lift and two escalators,” the spokesperson said.

Commuters at the station welcomed the improvements but said there was a need to increase the number of baggage scanning machines and frisking points. “The new entry is good and there is adequate space for passengers. We are happy that this entry has been created and it is likely to reduce congestion during the rush hours but more scanners and police personnel for frisking are needed,” said Anuj Kumar, a regular commuter.

Another commuter said there is a need to extend the line further so that people don’t have to come to Huda City centre from Old Gurugram, Subash Chowk and Hero Honda Chowk to board the Delhi Metro. “The congestion will reduce only if more stations are created and the line is extended to cover the entire city,” said Manish Yadav, another commuter.