Delhi Metro’s Grey Line extension to rural Najafgarh all set to open for public

The Dwarka-Dhansa Bus Stand extension of the Delhi Metro’s Grey Line is all set to be opened for the public with authorities carrying out the mandatory safety check on the 1.2-km-long stretch on Wednesday.

A Commissioner of Railway Safety (CMRS) inspection is usually the final step before a line is thrown open for commercial operations. The final report of the CMRS will be inspected in a few days.

The extension will cover parts of rural Najafgarh. Currently, a 4.2-km-long section of the Grey Line is operational between Dwarka and Najafgarh stations. One other station — Nangli — also falls on the route.

The route comes under the assembly constituency represented by Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot. Last month, Gahlot had inspected work on the line in the presence of senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials.

The 1.2-km-long extension was originally slated to be opened by December 2020. However, the pandemic-induced lockdown and subsequent labour shortage led to a delay.

The Grey Line, which is the metro’s smallest corridor, connects Najafgarh, which is largely rural, with the rest of the city. Dwarka acts as an interchange facility as the Blue Line, which stretches till NOIDA Electronic City, also touches the station.

Incidentally, the Dhansa Bus Stand station will be the first ever underground station of the DMRC to have an entire underground floor dedicated for parking of vehicles.

The parking facility will be integrated with the main station area where vehicle users will be able to park their cars and two wheelers and then proceed to the concourse of the station directly using lifts and escalators.

“The station has been designed as a four-level underground structure where there will be the platform at the bottom (at an approximate depth of 18 metres) followed by the concourse and then an entire floor for parking above it with the roof level at the top (ground level),” DMRC said in a statement.