Delhi Metro's Pink Line May Become Fully Operational By Mid-2020

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has floated a tender, for the construction works on a 1.4-km section of the Pink Line between Mayur Vihar Pocket-I and Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake stations. According to DMRC officials, the work will be completed in eight months and this section will open for public use by mid-2020.

The Lajpat Nagar-Mayur Vihar Phase-I stretch of the Delhi Metro's Pink Line was opened for public use on December 31, 2019. With five Metro stations on this 9.7-km corridor — Vinoba Puri, Ashram, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Mayur Vihar Phase-I and Mayur Vihar Pocket-I  — the time taken to travel between east and south of Delhi has been cut down to 15 minutes.  This section was inaugurated by union housing minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. 

It was in March 2018, when the 20.6-kilometre (km) stretch of the otherwise 59-km route between Majlis Park and Durgabhai Deshmukh South Campus section was inaugurated, followed by the Lajpat Nagar-South Campus section in August 2018 and the Shiv Vihar-Trilokpuri section in October 2018. 

The nitty-gritty

Here’s all you need to know about the Pink Line:

The stretch: Also known as the Ring Road Line, the corridor will run between Majlis Park in northwest Delhi to Shiv Vihar in northeast Delhi. It will be 58.59-km long when completed, running over Delhi’s Ring Road. Covering Delhi in a U shape. The Pink Line will be the most elevated, too. Dhaula Kuan will be the highest elevated point on the stretch with a height of 23.6 metres. Of the total length, 39.48 kilometres will be elevated while 19.11 kilometres will be underground. 

The interchanging: One of the most important features of this stretch is the many interchanging stations. This corridor passes strategically through stations connecting almost all the existing and upcoming lines of the Delhi Metro, including the Yellow, the Red, the Green, the Blue, the Orange and the Violet lines, as well as with the Hazrat Nizamuddin and Anand Vihar Terminal (Indian Railways) and the ISBT at Anand Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan.

The technology: This stretch will be the most technologically advanced among Delhi Metro’s many corridors. This stretch will run on a standard gauge and will have trains that will have Unattended Train Operations (UTO) or driverless trains. However, initially, drivers will be running these trains but will eventually move to opt for technology. This stretch will also have the new signalling technology known as Communication Based Train Control (CBTC). The CBTC technology, according to DMRC, improves signal coordination between trains coming from different directions. This will have a direct impact on the frequency of trains.

The challenges: According to DMRC officials, this has been “the most challenging corridor of Phase-III”. The corporation faced bottlenecks on the technological, the traffic as well as the land acquisition front. A release by the DMRC reads: “The construction of this section had to be completed by managing heavy traffic at various points on the Ring Road. Besides construction challenges, land acquisition at Mayapuri and Punjabi Bagh also posed a bottleneck during construction. Major utility diversions also had to be carried out between Shakurpur to Mayapuri, like the relocation of a Box Drain near Mayapuri.”

The DMRC also faced construction and traffic management challenges in areas, including Patparganj, Anand Vihar, Welcome, Jaffrabad and Maujpur.

Delhi Metro Pink Line stations

Delhi Metro Pink Line map