New Delhi, Jan 19: The Airport Metro Express Line (AMEL) in the capital is expected to resume operations shortly, nearly six months after it was shut down on safety concerns, a Delhi Metro official said Friday.
The Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) has given a clearance certificate to the swanky high-speed line, which took 18 minutes for the 23-km-long journey between the New Delhi Railway Station to the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. The same journey by road would take upwards of an hour.
"The CMRS has given the safety clearance certificated today (Friday) and we expect the line to be operational shortly," the Delhi Metro official said.
However, now, according to sources, the trip will take more time, as the CMRS has given permission to operate the high-speed line 50 kmph only.
"The CMRS has given permission to run the line only on 50 kmph. So it might take double the time to reach the IGI airport. After operating the line shortly, the Delhi Metro will conduct a periodical inspection to increase the speed," a official source told IANS.
Before the service's suspension, the trains were running at a speed of 105 kmph.
A joint venture between Delhi Metro and Reliance Infra, operations on the Airport Metro were suspended July 8 after some faults were detected in the civil structure of the line.
The Airport Metro, which has six metro stations ferries over 15,000 people daily.
