Delhi metro takes new steps to increase its revenue! The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) plans to take a new initiative for increasing its revenue, by opening new shops in the place of token counters at Delhi Metro stations across its network. As part of this project, the metro operator will lend the empty spaces on the metro stations to private agencies for opening new shops and utility counters, according to a recent Dainik Jagran report. In this regard, the step will be taken up across as many as 13 metro stations on the Delhi Metro Yellow Line, namely the Samaypur Badli-Huda City Centre. DMRC has initiated the process for the same. It is being said that if this project remains successful across the metro stations of the Delhi Metro Yellow Line, then it will be taken up for the other metro corridors as well.
The Delhi Metro now has a total network of around 373 km with as many as 271 metro stations in the national capital region (NCR). In Delhi alone, there are as many as 236 metro stations. According to the report, DMRC is closing the token counters on its stations based on its networks’ phases. Instead of token counters, TVM (ticket voting machine) are being installed at stations for passengers to buy tokens and recharge their smart cards. This facility has already been set up across 159 stations, where token counters have been closed.
The metro stations falling under Phase-3 also have token counters but they are not made operational as yet. At these stations, tokens can be bought only through TVMs. As many as 780 TVMs have been installed across the Delhi Metro network. The TVMs have been specially set up at those stations which witness maximum crowd during peak hours.
DMRC has been giving more preference to TVMs for buying tokens. This has also been done in order to decrease the number of passengers in front of token counters. In this case, DMRC has planned that the free space in place of token counters will be utilized for opening new shops. The metro stations where this process will be initiated involve Kashmere Gate, Rajiv Chowk, Chandni Chowk, Adarsh Nagar, Udyog Bhawan, Lok Kalyan Marg, Vishwavidyalaya, Vidhan Sabha, Civil Lines, Jor Bagh, Malviya Nagar, Sultanpur and Ghitorni.