If you’re done with driving, hop on!!

 

Gurgaon has been rated as India’s most prosperous city. Quite unbelievable, with its dust, pollution, concrete debris etc. and add to that traffic jams, potholed roads, rash & careless drivers and what you end up is a city of chaos. The concrete jungle and vertical towers robs the millennium city of its trees. Expansion in road space has resulted in the green cover disappearing at an alarming rate on either side of the arterial roads like Golf Course Road, M.G. Road (no, for the uninitiated, this is not Mahatma Gandhi Road - it is Mehrauli Gurgaon Road, perhaps the only city where M.G. Road does not signify any relation to the Mahatma!).

Gurgaon was conceived and given its significance by none other than DLF, one of India’s leading real estate companies. In fact, it reached the ‘leading’ status riding on the back of enormous gains extracted from making the most of the opportunity of bringing to light a cheaper option compared to the rising costs of business and living in Delhi.

So it became quite imperative that DLF took some responsibility for the city’s state of disarray. It was about 4 years ago that its denizens, got a taste of what lay in store. The arterial road leading to India’s showcase business district, DLF Cyber City was partly cordoned off. So was the roundabout at Sikanderpur near Bristol Hotel. That was the beginning of a daily nightmare which continues till date. Sudden overnight road diversions, unprecedented road blockages, multifold increase in potholes and not to mention the ever increasing time spent on covering 7-10 kilometers from office to home. Gurgaon’s landscape had changed forever.

The outcome of all this was really worth bearing the brunt. What DLF achieved in this period is now hailed as India’s first private metro. When I took the first ride on a busy Monday morning, I could feel the excitement as I had felt about 3 decades ago while taking a ride on India’s first metro at an underground station in Kolkata – a concept unseen and unheard of in India in those times.

The Rapid Metro has been constructed keeping in mind the need of business and office concentration in Gurgaon. It is a fully elevated rapid transit system much like its Delhi cousin. Its first phase consists of 6 stations originating at Sikanderpur, which is also the connecting point with Delhi Metro. It takes a circular loop around DLF Cyber City with single one way track between 4 stations and returns to Sikanderpur covering a total distance of about 5 kms in approximately 15 minutes. The trains run from 06.05 in the morning till 00.36 midnight with a frequency of about 5 minutes. Rapid Metro has 3 coaches with comfortable seating arrangements and ample space to stand for the short journey.

The ticketing system is integrated with Delhi Metro so that passengers have seamless travel. The flat fare across the Rapid Metro network is Rs. 12. Tickets can be purchased either through tokens for individual journeys or smart cards.



A Rapid Metro Train Entering a Station



Inside



Display Screen Beside the Doors
 



Entry/Exit

 

Gurgaon's corporate culture is very visible on the Rapid Metro as well…all the stations (except Sikanderpur and Phase 2) are named with an existing company…Vodafone Belvedere Towers, IndusInd Bank Cyber City, Micromax Moulsari Avenue and Airtel Phase 3. This is perhaps the world's first tube station named after a corporate sponsor. It also doubles up as an advertising initiative, which will sure shot garner visibility and revenue for the companies. I must say - a commercial venture true to DLF’s operating style to rake in the moolah. Taking a cue from this, the Mumbai Metro will be the second mass transit project in the country to use station branding for revenue.

IndusInd Bank Cyber City Station

Waiting for the Train at the Station

 

Interchange at Sikanderpur Station 
 



Aerial View of a Train Leaving Vodafone Belvedere Towers Station
 



The Same Train Entering IndusInd Bank Cyber City Station

The stations are strategically located to cover all of DLF’s building by either having an entry/exit option from the building itself or reachable with a short walk.



Passage from the Vodafone Belvedere Towers Station into DLF Building No. 10

This is the first phase of Rapid Metro. It has become extremely popular with office goers who now have the last mile connectivity. Whenever I have travelled on weekdays, the coaches were full to the brim. With the success of this stretch, the construction for the second phase from Sikanderpur to Sector 56 along Golf Course Road is progressing quite rapidly! 



This Billboard Says It All