After Noida, Delhi Metro has extended its reach to another satellite town of the capital. On Monday, Metro finally rolled into the Millennium City Gurgaon, bringing with it the promise of hassle-free, comfortable commuting experience to the residents of Gurgaon.

No wonder, as the Qutub Minar-Huda City Centre line was thrown open to public, people flocked to the stations on Monday morning to enjoy a ride. But once they stepped out of the swanky Metro complex in both Gurgaon and Delhi, their euphoria was punctured as they faced a harrowing time getting to their destinations in the absence of feeder buses and other transport facilities.

Despite the connectivity problem, on the opening day, close to 30,000 commuters boarded the Delhi Metro on the new section till 8pm. Commuters are hoping that the facilities will improve very soon. ‘‘Metro is a big relief. At least, now I can avoid the traffic jams on NH-8. Today, I reached IFFCO Chowk in 30 minutes, but getting to my office from here is difficult,’’ said Kavita, an executive with a private firm.

Like Kavita, there were many commuters who faced difficulty in commuting within Gurgaon. ‘‘The public transport facility in Gurgaon is non-existent. People will be encouraged to use Metro only if the public transport system improves,’’ said Umesh Kumar, who teaches in a school in Sushant Lok.

Haryana Roadways officials claimed that they pressed into service feeder buses on Monday, but refused to give the exact details. ‘‘We have started feeder buses on five routes and these buses will cross the Metro stations at least 30 times a day,’’ said Yashendra, General Manager, Haryana Roadways. He added, ‘‘At present, we don’t know which Metro station will witness the maximum rush. We will soon ask DMRC for the data and then plan bus routes accordingly.’’

The busiest stations were Qutub Minar and HUDA City Centre recording footfalls of about 3,400 and 1,800 commuters respectively till 4pm. ‘‘As this stretch is part of the Jehangirpuri-HUDA City Centre line, we weren’t expecting a huge rush. The real scene will emerge once the entire stretch opens next month,’’ said Anuj Dayal, spokesperson, DMRC.

At the HUDA City Centre, a sizable crowd had gathered to take the first ride on the Metro. And most of them were residents from nearby condominiums who came for a joyride. ‘‘I had to cut short my morning walk as I wanted to take the first train to Gurgaon. I’m excited about it, as I can now visit my relative in Gurgaon whenever I want,’’ said Shiv Singh Rawat, who works with an NGO and had come with his three nieces.

The 14.47km-long corridor has 10 stations — Qutub Minar, Chhattarpur, Sultanpur, Ghitorni, Arjangarh, Guru Dronacharya, Sikanderpur, M G Road, IFFCO Chowk and HUDA City Centre. ‘‘Initially, trains will bypass the Chhattarpur Metro station since construction work is still going on there. This section will become a part of operational line 2 (Jehangirpuri-Central Secretariat) in July. Once it is operational, it will take 90 minutes to reach Gurgaon from Jehangirpuri,’’ said Anuj Dayal, spokesperson, DMRC.

Delhi Metro - Central Secretariat to Huda City Center Line

Once the Qutub Minar-Central Secretariat line opens in July, it will be the second longest single corridor on the Delhi Metro network. The Dwarka-Noida line is the longest single corridor at 50 kms. DMRC expects close to 1.6 lakh commuters to use the Metro every day once the stretch is opened till Central Secretariat.

For the moment, DMRC plans to run five trains at 12-minute frequency. ‘‘As we are opening a small stretch (Qutub Minar-HUDA city centre), we don’t know about ridership. As the passenger load increases, we plan to introduce more trains. The real potential of the line will be known once the line is opened till Central Secretariat,’’ said Dayal. To make the Qutub Minar Metro station accessible, especially to office goers, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will be running a feeder bus service from Central Secretariat to Qutub Minar Metro station from 6.15am to 11.45pm. ‘‘During office hours, we plan to have buses at 10-minute frequency. The exact number of feeder buses will be fixed depending on passenger load,’’ said DTC chairman Naresh Kumar.

The minimum fare is Rs 8 and maximum fare Rs 18 on the Qutub Minar-Gurgaon line.

	The 14.47 km-long Qutub Minar-Huda City Centre corridor opened in June. Services at 8am from either station
	Gurgaon hase become the 2nd satellite town of the NCR after Noida to get a Metro service. This may be the ultimate solution for its congestion problem
	DTC is planning to run connecting bus services from Qutub Minar Metro station to Central Secretariat station
	Somewhere in July, this section will become a part of the operations Line 2 of Delhi Metro (Jehangirpuri - Central Secretariat) network
	Once integrated, the line will be 45 km in length, connecting North Delhi (Jehangirpuri), South Delhi (Green Park, Saket, AIIMS, Hauz Khas) and Gurgaon

Lifts & Escalators: A total of 25 lifts and 31 escalators have been installed at the nine Metro stations on the corridor (excluding Chhattarpur Metro station) to provide easy access to commuters Passenger conveniences/Toilets have been provided at all stations in the unpaid area

Smarter AFC Gates: The Metro Stations from Sultanpur to HUDA City Centre will have smarter Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates similar to those used on the Inderlok-Mundka line. These gates allow faster passage of commuters. These AFC gates also have provision for return of invalid tokens when inserted. The system will be useful for passengers who have been provided with invalid tokens as these would be returned

Ticket Office Machines or Token Counters: The TOM for this line will have touch screens which provide ease of operation for TOM operator, thus improving passenger handling. A reader is installed inside the TOM, which will reduce the manual operation in case of a token problem. This will reduce waiting time at the ticket window. Three ticket readers have been installed at every station

Excess Fare Office / Customer Care Centre: Two Excess Fare Offices (EFO) /customer care centres have been provided at each of the nine stations. It comes to 18 in all for this section (excluding Chhattarpur Metro station)