The remaining stretch of the Delhi Metro's Pink Line, barring a small segment near Trilokpuri, will be opened in two phases by September, a senior official said today.
"There is just a small segment near Trilokpuri in east Delhi which is mired in land-related dispute. We have almost resolved the issue, but the rehabilitation matter is turning out be a bottleneck in achieving the completion of the Pink Line," Executive Director, Corporate Communications at the DMRC, Anuj Dayal said.
Interacting with reporters at the soon-to-be-opened Lajpat Nagar station of the Pink Line, he said the rest of the network would be opened in two phases by September.
"The Shiv Vihar-Mayur Vihar Pocket-1 would be opened in August while the Lajpat Nagar-Mayur Vihar- Ph 1 is set to be opened by September," the senior official said.
Another senior official said this would effectively mean that the entire span will be almost completely opened by September, leaving a "small gap" between Mayur Vihar- Ph 1 and Mayur Vihar Pocket-1 stations.
"This span is supposed to be connected through just laying of tracks and no station is earmarked in this stretch. Facilities for U-turn of trains can be made at the two contiguous stations before opening the two sections," he said.
The first corridor of the Pink Line, spanning over 20 km, from Majlis Park to Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus, was opened on March 14, connecting north and south campuses of the Delhi University on the DMRC network for the first time.
The 8.10-km-long South Campus-Lajpat Nagar section of the Pink Line is expected to open early next month, as the Commission of Railway Safety (CMRS) has given its nod, subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions and stipulations.
The South Campus-Lajpat Nagar is all set to emerge as a corridor for shoppers as four major markets of the city will be connected in one stretch of the network that will also cut travel time for commuters by up to 20 minutes.
This soon-to-be-opened section has six stations, including interchange facilities at INA (with Yellow Line) and Lajpat Nagar (Violet Line).
The new stations are -- Sir Vishveshariah Moti Bagh, Bhikhaji Cama Place, Sarojini Nagar, INA, South Extension and Lajpat Nagar. Only Sir Vishveshariah Moti Bagh station is elevated, rest all are underground.
With the opening of this second section -- expected soon -- the operational span of the Pink Line from Majlis Park to Lajpat Nagar will become 29.66 km and the entire operational span of the DMRC will reach 296 km with 214 stations.
This new section would also shrink travel time for commuters by up to 20 minutes, Dayal said.
The Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus-Shiv Vihar stretch measures about 28.93 km.
"About 98 km of span of Ph-III of the DMRC is currently operational and after the opening of the second section of Pink Line, it will reach about 106 km," according to data shared by the DMRC.
According to the latest economic survey of the city released on March 19, The work for Ph-III was approved for 160.586 km and is likely to be completed by December 2018.
The total operational span of the Delhi Metro network, including in the NCR, will expand to over 350 km after completion of its Phase-III project, which would also enhance the daily average ridership of the mass rapid transit system to nearly 40 lakh, the survey said.
The DMRC has already made forays in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh with networks extending up to Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad.
"We are also helping Noida Metro in constructing their network between Noida-Greater Noida," the senior official said.
According to the data shared by the DMRC, the corridors awaiting opening are -- Noida City Centre-Electronic City (6.6 km), Dwarka-Najafgarh (4.2 km), Escorts Mujesar-Ballabgarh (3.2 km) and Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda (9.6 km).
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)