‘Metro Man’ to PM: Say no to free travel plan

New Delhi, June 14

Opposing the AAP government’s proposed free travel scheme for women in Delhi Metro trains, its former chief E Sreedharan has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to agree to the proposal as it would set “an alarming precedence”.

In a letter to the PM, Sreedharan, popularly called ‘Metro Man’, said if the Delhi government is “so keen” to help women commuters, it can pay the cost of their travel directly to them rather than making travel free.

The former Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief said when the first section of the Delhi Metro was to be opened in 2002, he had taken a firm decision that no one would be given travel concession.

Even the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had bought a ticket to travel to the station from where the Metro section was inaugurated, he said. “I would very earnestly request you sir not to agree to the Delhi government’s proposal. 

Earlier this month, the Arvind Kejriwal government said it would make commute for women in public buses and Metro trains free.

The DMRC is a joint venture of the Centre and Delhi government, and one shareholder cannot take a unilateral decision to give concession and push the Metro into “inefficiency and bankruptcy”, Sreedharan said. — PTI