A train on the Pink Line of Delhi Metro. (Express Photo: Amit Mehra) The Delhi Metro will carry out a safety inspection of the Mayur Vihar I-Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake section of the Pink Line on Friday, a crucial step before the launch of train operations along the stretch.
Sources told The Indian Express the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CMRS) has agreed to carry out the inspection of the 1.5-km section from around 9.45 am on Friday.
The DMRC will be allowed to launch commercial services between these stations only after receiving a safety nod from the CMRS. The safety commissioner will undertake travels on foot, by road below the elevated section, and on a train run between the stations during the inspection, sources added.
The DMRC plans to launch train services between Mayur Vihar I and Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake stations by July 31. The long-awaited launch will turn the 58.6-km Pink Line, the Delhi Metro’s longest line, into a continuous corridor, without breaks.
The line stretches between Majlis Park and Shiv Vihar, touching densely populated parts of west, south and east Delhi. Currently, trains operate on two separate sections of this line; Majlis Park-Mayur Vihar I and Shiv Vihar-Trilokpuri.
Earlier this month, four Pink Line stations — Mandawali West Vinod Nagar, East Vinod Nagar Mayur Vihar Ph-II, Trilokpuri and Mayur Vihar Pocket-1 — were kept shut for four days to carry out work related to the launch.
The missing link could not be bridged for over two years due to land acquisition and rehabilitation issues. Houses of 108 families in Trilokpuri’s Block 15 fell on the disputed 1.5 km long stretch. The Metro struggled to relocate them to nearby flats. Eventually, a lottery was held for allotment of flats to the affected families under the supervision of the Delhi High Court.
After the 1.5-km missing link is bridged, people travelling from west Delhi and south Delhi areas such as Shalimar Bagh, Punjabi Bagh, Mayapuri, Delhi Cantonment, Sarojini Nagar, South Extension and Lajpat Nagar will be able to reach the transport hub of Anand Vihar ISBT and railway station directly.
On the other hand, north-east and east Delhi residents staying in localities such as Shiv Vihar, Maujpur, Jaffrabad, Welcome, Krishna Nagar, Karkardooma, Vinod Nagar, Mandawali and Mayur Vihar will be able travel directly to the Sarai Kale Khan ISBT and Nizamuddin railway station and south campus colleges of the Delhi University.
There are currently 285 metro stations across a network measuring 389 km, including Noida-Greater Noida Aqua Line and Rapid Metro Gurugram, across Delhi and NCR cities. Metro trains are currently being allowed to operate at 50 per cent seating capacity to prevent overcrowding and violation of social distancing norms.
“The Pink Line will further be extended from Majlis Park to Maujpur in Phase–IV, making it the longest single metro corridor in India at approximately 70 kilometers. After completion of the Phase-IV, the Pink Line will also become the only Ring Corridor of metro in the country,” DMRC said in a statement.
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