Magenta Line to get 1st smart card vends

NEW DELHI: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is going to launch smart card vending machines that will first become operational at three stations of the line—Botanical Garden, Janakpuri West and Terminal 1-IGI Airport station—as part of a pilot project. Till now, DMRC has installed more than 500 token vending machines at 118 metro stations, but did not have a smart card vending machine.
Commuters will be able to buy or recharge their smart cards at these machines through cash or debit/credit cards.Apart from saving them the hassle of queuing up at customer care counters, there is another benefit of using these machines. While the minimum recharge amount for smart cards at present is Rs 200, commuters will be able to recharge their cards by paying a minimum of Rs 100 at these machines.
The first section of the line between Botanical Garden and Kalkaji Mandir was opened in December last year and the second section of the 38.3km-long corridor between Kalkaji Mandir and Janakpuri West is expected to open next week.
About 70-80% of Delhi Metro commuters use a smart card to travel every day. “For the first time, Delhi Metro is installing smart card vending machines at select stations across on its Phase III corridors,” said a DMRC spokesperson.
“These machines will be able to vend new cards as well as recharge the existing ones, and payment will be possible through both cash and credit/ debit cards,” he said. The spokesperson added that apart from Botanical Garden, Terminal 1-IGI Airport and Janakpuri West stations on Magenta Line, one machine has also been installed at Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus Metro Station of Pink Line (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar), which
will be operational soon.
“Plans are in progress to install more such machines at other stations of the Pink and Magenta lines. More machines will be procured based on how the pilot project goes,” he said. DMRC aims to have a completely ‘counterless’ network eventually with token counters being replaced with token vending machines, and smart card vending machines.