In view of high ridership observed on the eve of Raksha Bandhan and the day itself for the past few years, the Delhi Metro has decided to run around 300 extra train trips each on August 19 and 20.
Additional security personnel will also be deployed to cater to the rush of commuters expected on these two days, a DMRC spokesperson said.
“Trains will be run at peak-hour frequency from 8 AM to 8.30 PM on August 19 and 20 and trains which are normally withdrawn from lines during off peak hours (i.e, 11:30 AM to 04:30 PM) will be kept in service to perform around 300 extra trips, making a total of about 2,900 trips on that day,” the spokesperson said.
DMRC will also also deploy additional security guards and Customer Facilitation Agents (CFA) at major Metro stations to help and guide commuters on these two days.
The prominent stations to have extra CFA deployment are Dilshad Garden, Shahdara, Welcome, Seelampur, Shastri Park, Pitampura, Rohini East, Rohini West, Rithala, Jahangir Puri, Adarsh Nagar, GTB Nagar, Yamuna Bank, Uttam Nagar East, Nawada, Noida City Centre, Botanical Garden, Noida Sec-18, MG Road, HUDA City Centre, Sarita Vihar, Lajpat Nagr, Badarpur, Peeragarhi, Nangloi and Mundka.
“In addition, extra personnel will be deployed to handle the increased load on the ticketing system and the Metro ticketing staff in 75 stations will do 123 additional shifts,” the official said.
The Delhi Metro normally witnesses greater rush of commuters on the eve of Raksha Bandhan Day. In 2012, over 22 lakh passengers travelled on a day before Rakhi by Metro whereas close to 20 lakh travelled on the day of Rakhi.
At present, the Delhi Metro ridership has already increased substantially as the Metro carried over 25 lakh passengers for the first time ever on August 8.