The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which recently inaugurated the Magenta line and a section of its Pink line under phase III of its expansion project, is all set to open the remaining 69 km section by the end of this year, thus covering almost the whole of Delhi.
The 69 km section, which is yet to be opened, includes the stretch between the Durgabai Deshmukh South campus to Shiv Vihar in the Pink line, and a section between the existing Noida City Centre station to the Noida Electronic City in the Blue line and a section between the existing Dilshad Garden and New Bus Adda in Ghaziabad in the Red line.
According to DMRC, sections in the Pink line would be opened in phases as the construction in this line had been delayed due to land issues that the Delhi Metro faced during the construction.
The section between Durgabai Deshmukh South campus, to Lajpat Nagar in the Pink line is expected to be opened to the public by the end of July, while another section between Lajpat Nagar and Mayur Vihar is expected to be opened by August and the remaining Trilokpuri to Shiv Vihar stretch will be opened by September 2018.
The Pink line will be criss-crossing Delhi along the Outer Ring Road area connecting North, South, East and West Delhi. This line, which is about 58 km long, will have 38 stations, out of which 12 would be underground, while 26 would be elevated. The Pink line will also have six interchange stations touching almost all the existing lines of the Delhi Metro. The extension of the already existing Blue and Red lines will run deeper into Noida and Ghaziabad to provide better connectivity to the NCR. According to sources in the Delhi Metro, trial runs in both these lines have begun and they are expected to be opened to the public by the end of this year.
A DMRC spokesperson told The Sunday Guardian: “We are most likely to complete all the openings of phase III projects of the Metro by the end of this year, apart from the Dwarka to Nazafgarh section. With this phase, the Metro network will be one of the widest and dense networks in the world. This phase has also covered almost the whole of Delhi which earlier did not have Metro connectivity. We are just left to open some 69 km section under this phase and we are hoping to complete the projects on time.”
Apart from this, the DMRC, along with the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), will also throw open metro connectivity from the Botanical Garden metro station to Depot station in Greater Noida, crisscrossing sectors like 71, 83, 137, 147, 153 in Noida and Alpha 1, 2, Pari Chowk and Knowledge Park in Greater Noida, enhancing connectivity and public transport facility for residents of Noida and Greater Noida with the national capital.
Trial runs for this project, which will be the new Aqua line, have already begun and the line is expected to be opened by December this year. This line will be around 29.7 km long and is entirely elevated, having 21 stations.
This line will have an interchange facility with the Blue line of the DMRC at the Noida Sector 52 Metro station, which is being readied under the extension of the Blue line and will connect with the Noida Sector 71 station of the Aqua line.