Broken escalators rob Delhi Metro's Heritage Line of its sheen

NEW DELHI: While many commuters are thrilled with swanky Heritage Line Metro, which offer glimpses of the city's cultural heritage, some commuters, particularly senior citizens, are disappointed as two escalators at Kashmere Gate Metro station have not been working for months.

Jai Kishan Goel, a senior citizen who went to Kashmere Gate, pointed out that an escalator has not been working for many months and he does not expect it to become functional in next few days either.

He added that six elevators are installed to directly join the Heritage Line to Kashmere Gate Metro Station areas, but two of them have under repair for a very long time.

Meanwhile, an official of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said that four escalators already operational at Kashmere Gate area already adequate to meet the present requirement.

He added that the two non-functional escalators are only additional.

Another commuter, who wished to be anonymous, said "Metro has revised the fare and has doubled from the previous fare. It is really distressing to find out that newly-opened Metro lines have two escalators that have been out of order for long. Moreover, I have also found water dripping from the air conditioning duct at a platfrom in Kashmere Gate."

He added, "Every metro station at Heritage Line has been decorated with glimpses of the city's cultural heritage, and having such kind of negligence is absolutely disappointing for any commuter."

Meanwhile, another Metro station, Seelampur, also has disappointed commuters, as many AFC entry gates at the station are functioning without a proper display screen.

"It has been a few weeks that these AFC machines have not been displaying proper messages. Some of them are totally blank," said a regular traveller.

He added that many a time the issue was reported to station controllers, but no action has been taken yet.