Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal with Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Harsh Vardhan at Metro Bhawan on Wednesday. (Express photo: Prem Nath Pandey)
The Delhi Metro network, spread across Delhi-NCR, crossed 250 km on Wednesday with the launch of a 20-km section of the Pink Line. But land issues in a small stretch of the corridor will delay its complete launch, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has said.
Persisting issues in a small section of the Pink Line — between Trilokpuri and Mayur Vihar Phase-1 — means that train operations will be possible only in stretches. The Metro plans to launch the stretch between South Campus and Mayur Vihar Phase I by June, while the section between Trilokpuri and Shiv Vihar is likely to open by May, 2018.
“However, in a small stretch of land between Mayur Vihar and Trilokpuri, work has not started yet due to land issues,” a DMRC official said.
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The 20-km stretch of the Pink Line that opened for commercial operations Wednesday has three interchange stations — Azadpur station (with Yellow Line), Netaji Subhash Place (with Red Line) and Rajouri Garden (Blue Line). It will reduce travel time between Dwarka Sector 21 (Blue Line) and Rithala (Red Line) by over 16 minutes and Rajouri Garden and Azadpur by nearly 23 minutes.
At one point between Delhi Cantonment and Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus stations, trains will reach a height of 23 metres as the elevated corridor passes over the existing Airport Express Line of DMRC.
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According to Metro officials, a total of 19 trains will be in service on the line. The trains, which can also run on unattended mode, are similar to the ones on the Magenta Line, having multi-coloured seats and USB ports. The stations have platform screen doors.
Travelling between Majlis Park and Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus stations will take 34 minutes and will cost Rs 40. The Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) inspected the stretch between February 26 and 28.