NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is likely to complete all its projects under the third phase and throw open its services to the public by January next year, making it one of the biggest metro rail networks in the world.
Some of the projects under the third phase of the Delhi Metro have been delayed due to land acquisition and construction hindrances, according to sources in the Delhi Metro.
A senior DMRC official told The Sunday Guardian: “The DMRC had planned to make the entire network on Phase-III operational by the end of this year, but due to construction constraints and some hindrances in land acquisition and some other problems that cropped up, it could not deliver. However, we are certain that by January next year, we will be able to put this entire network in operation.”
“In some of the lines, trial runs have already started and in some, we are about to begin trail runs. The Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety has also conducted safety audits in some of the pending sections and we are going to get the approval soon. Civil works and constructions are all complete in these sections and once all the formalities are done, the trains would start to roll,” the senior DMRC official said.
The entire network of Delhi Metro’s third phase was scheduled to be completed and thrown open to the public by the end of this year.
However, stretches like the Dilshad Garden to Ghaziabad Bus Stand on the Red Line, extension of the Violet Line to Ballabgarh in Faridabad, extension of the Blue Line between Noida Sector 32 to Sector 62 and a stretch of the Pink Line between Mayur Vihar Pocket 1 to Lajpat Nagar, are yet to be operational.
According to Metro officials, the stretch of the Pink Line between Mayur Vihar Pocket 1 to Lajpat Nagar will be opened on Monday, while safety inspection is likely to begin by the first week on the Dilshad Garden-Ghaziabad Bus Stand in the Red Line after which it would be made operation by the last week of January next year. Trial runs in the Noida Sector 32 to Sector 62 have begun and could be opened to public by January next year.
The much-awaited Metro connectivity between Noida and Greater Noida is also expected to be made operational by early January next year, as all civil as well as safety works have been completed on this line.
The Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), which is the nodal agency for the line between Noida Sector 51 and Depot Station in Greater Noida, is awaiting a date from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is likely to inaugurate this section of the Metro Line. This line will connect the entire stretch between Noida and Greater Noida which experienced a huge real estate boom in the last few years.
An official in the NMRC told this correspondent, “The entire work on this line has been completed and safety approvals have also been given. We are just waiting for a date from the Prime Minister’s office to inaugurate this section. Most likely it would be thrown open by January.”