No immediate plans for late night services at Airport Line: DMRC

Commuters waiting anxiously for round-the-clock operation Airport Line services will not be pleased with learning that Delhi Metro does still not have plan to execute overnight services on the Airport Line stretch.

Last year, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) conducted a survey to assess the feasibility of running trains beyond midnight, which was primarily aimed to serve passengers going abroad through flights.

Delhi Metro has been toying with the idea since 2008. However, DMRC managing director Mangu Singh's words suggest that the plan has been shelved, at least for the time being.

"We do not plan to operate trains overnight at this point. In any case, even presently, we get only hours at night for the maintenance and related works," replied Singh, when asked about the status of the plan. At present, Metro trains operate at Orange Line between 4.45 am and 11.40 pm on the 23-km-long corridor.

Over the world, late night local train services are available in very few cities.

It is still a rarity and there have been protests by workers in London, where late night Tube services were launched only last year, against the move.

In Washington, last December, authorities concerned had decided to suspend late night subway services for a period of two years. Select lines of the New York subway system provide overnight services.

The Airport Line stretches between the New Delhi Metro Station and Dwarka Sector 21.

The DMRC has recently invited bids for its extension till Dwarka Sector 25, where an international convention centre is being constructed. The high-speed corridor had struggled to attract commuters at one point.

Trains run every 10 minutes between 8 am and 8.30 pm and it takes around 20 minutes to reach the IGI Airport here from the New Delhi station on this line.

The DMRC took over the operations of the Airport link in July 2013 after Reliance Infrastructure's subsidiary Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Ltd (DAMEPL) terminated its concessionaire agreement.