New Delhi: It was a momentous day in Delhi’s history when, on December 24, 2002, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee flagged off the first train of the city’s urban rail system. In the two decades since, Delhi Metro has gone on to become the veritable ‘lifeline’ of the capital. The 20 years of achievements were recalled on Saturday at a special exhibition in one of the stations.To celebrate this landmark occasion, Delhi Metro’s first train, flagged off by Vajpayee, was specially decorated and ran on the Red Line corridor on Saturday. Announcements were made inside the train to inform passengers that they were travelling in the very first train of Delhi Metro, eliciting an excited reaction from the passengers.The exhibition at Welcome metro station in northwest Delhi was inaugurated by Suzuki Hiroshi, ambassador extraordinary of Japan to India, a nod to the assistance that Japan gave in construction of the capital’s metro rail system. The Japanese martial art of Aikido and Indian classical dance Kathak were part of the celebrations.“Delhi Metro has made great contributions to the deepening of relations between Japan and India. The metro train has been a phenomenal success and has transformed Delhi,” said Hiroshi. DMRC’s managing director Vikas Kumar was present on the occasion.According to officials, Delhi Metro is now among the largest city rail systems in the world employing the most advanced technologies, such as driverless operations. The already extensive network is further being expanded in Phase IV and will add another 65km to the existing network. The journey of Delhi Metro that began on December 24 in 2002 with the 8.4-km Shahdara-Tis Hazari corridor of the Red Line was a fast one that saw more than 380km being added in two decades. Currently, DMRC operates 391km of rail network with 286 stations on 12 corridors, including the Noida-Greater Noida and Gurgaon Rapid Metro in the NCR cities.Currently, the Phase IV construction is in progress on three approved priority corridors. Two of them are extensions of the existing Pink Line and Magenta lines — Majlis Park to Maujpur and RK Ashram Marg to Janakpuri West, respectively — while the new Silver Line will come up that will connect Tughlaqabad with Delhi Aerocity.The exhibition at Welcome is not news since Delhi Metro has used the space in its stations to showcase artworks and exhibitions reflecting the culture of places where the stations are located or to commemorate special occasions. For instance, an exhibition installed at Rajiv Chowk metro station in August 2022 covers the tragedy of the 1947 Partition. Similarly, a permanent exhibition at Rajouri Garden metro station pays tribute to the heroes of the armed forces. Many of the stations have theme-based art works too.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/going-down-memory-lane-as-citys-lifeline-turns-20/articleshow/96485084.cms
