Delhi Govt. Approves Delhi Metro Phase 4’s DPR

Note: At the time of publishing this post, the Delhi Government has not released an official press release (visit PR page). The author of the HT article which first broke this news has based his entire piece on a verbal confirmation from Delhi’s Transport Minister Gopal Rai Satyendar Jain and we all know what that can imply. All other articles out there (TOI, BS) have been copied over from a PTI report with no independent fact-checking.

As per all of these reports, the Delhi Government in a recent meeting has approved the Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 project’s Detailed Project Report in its original form with just 1 minor tweak. This comes after Delhi Metro Rail Corporation officials made another presentation to the Delhi Government in June in which it left it up to the Chief Minister to decide the final routes and whether to entertain changes proposed by some MLAs.

One of the significant changes made since January is the deletion of the 18.6 km Dwarka – Prem Piao line through rural north-west Delhi which the Delhi Government was trying to push the DMRC to build. The minor tweak to the DMRC’s original DPR is the inclusion of a 2 km extension of the Tughlakabad – Aerocity line up to the Magenta Line’s IGI Terminal 1 station.

Metro Lines

We’re now back to the original 6 corridors which add up to 105.93 km of which roughly 35 km is expected to be built underground. The total number will go up if and when new proposals in Gurgaon & Kundli (see details) and Ghaziabad (see details) are approved.

Extensions:
• Rithala – Narela (Red line) – 21.73km
Type: Elevated
Stations: Rohini Sector 26, Rohini Sector 31, Rohini Sector 32, Rohini Sector 36, Rohini Sector 37, Barwala, Put Khurd, Bawana Industrial Area – 1, Bawana Industrial Area – 2, Bawana, Bawana JJ Colony, Sanpath, New Sanath Colony, Anaj Mandi and Narela

Janakpuri West – R.K. Ashram (Magenta line) – 28.92km
Type: Elevated & Underground
Stations: Krishna Park Extn, Keshpur, Meera Bagh, Paschim Vihar, Peeragarhi Chowk, Peergarhi, Mangolpuri, West Enclave, Deepali Chowk, Madhuban Chowk, Rohini East, Prashant Vihar , North Pitampura, Haiderpur, Mukarba Chowk, Bhalaswa, Majlis Park, Azadpur, Ashok Vihar, Derawal Nagar, Rajpura, GG Sabji Mandi, Pulbangash, Sadar Bazar, Nabi Karim and RK Ashram Marg

Mukundpur – Maujpur (Pink Line) – 12.54km
Type: Elevated
Stations: Burari Crossing, Jagatpur Village, Surghat, Khajuri Khas, Bhajanpura, Yamuna Vihar and Maujpur

New Lines:
Tughlakabad – IGI Terminal 1 (22.20 km) – shown in Moss Green
Type: Elevated & Underground
Stations:  Tughlakabad, Tughlakabad Railway Colony, Anandmayee Marg Junction, Tigri, Khanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Saket G Block, Saket, Lado Sarai, Mehrauli, Kishangar, Masoodpur, Vasant Kunj (Sec-D), Mahipalpur, Delhi Aerocity and IGI Terminal 1

Lajpat Nagar – Saket G-Block (7.96 km) – shown in Moss Green
Note: This line will be a spur/branch of the Tughlakabad – IGI line
Type: Elevated & Underground
Stations: Saket-G Block, Sheikh Sarai, Chirag Delhi, GK-1, Andrews Ganj and Lajpat Nagar

Inderlok – Indraprastha (12.58km) – shown in Aqua
Type: Underground
Stations: Inderlok, Dayabasti, Sarai Rohilla, Ahmal Khan Park, Nabi Karim, New Delhi Delhi, LNJP Hospital, Delhi Gate, IG Stadium and Indraprastha

Maps

Here are 2 maps which show the alignment of all the lines. Both maps have been embedded into the post to allow you to zoom in/out and explore for yourself!

By PhasePhase 1 | Phase 2 |  Phase 3 | Phase 4

Next Steps

After the Delhi government’s official sanction, the proposal will be sent to the Central Government for its approval. The DMRC is yet to reveal the funding pattern for this phase and hasn’t accepted JICA’s revised policy of a step loan in which key equipment will have to be procured from Japanese companies.

If you’ve followed the Delhi section of the site, you already know there’s a long way to go for commercial operations on Phase 3’s new lines to begin. As such, I’m expecting the DMRC to begin Phase 4’s tendering/bidding stage for construction only in the year 2018.

For more updates, check out the Delhi section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG

written by

Global traveler who prefers mass rapid transit

68 Responses to "Delhi Govt. Approves Delhi Metro Phase 4’s DPR"

  1. Sidhant says:

    Will that Mukundpur-Azadpur section on Janakpuri-RK Ashram line run in parallel to the Pink Line?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Yes. In March, the DMRC had uploaded that section’s alignment to their site – see this post.

      Reply
      • Sidhant says:

        Ah, thanks. But, I still don’t understand why would they operate 2 lines parallel to each? Would the stations be located in the same area?

        Reply
        • TMRG says:

          Yes, both the Majlis Park and Azadpur stations of the Magenta Line will be built adjacent to the Pink Line’s stations to allow users to easily interchange.

          Duplication of the routes was unavoidable as there’s no other ‘open’ road option available. Nothing wrong with it. FYI, next year, Anand Vihar-Karkardooma in east Delhi will be serviced by 2 lines (Pink & Blue).

          Reply
  2. Aby says:

    Is this authentic can you confirm that. Bcoz has u say no official announcements from dmrc

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi, I’ve stated out all the facts known as this moment. There’s still no press release, so I suspect it’s another ‘in-principle’ approval and not the official sanction of plans. The good part is that the routes within Delhi have been finalized.

      Reply
  3. harsh says:

    extending yellow line to narela was more sensible, atleast it would have save time to reach isbt and railway station. and direct connectivity to central delhi. they should have made a interchange by intersecting rithala and badli line.

    Reply
  4. Siddhant Kumar says:

    Will maujpur mukundpur section will be elevated. I thinj some of the section will be underground because khajuri khas and bhajanpura are very congested areas

    Reply
  5. Faizan Haidar says:

    Transport minister is Satyendar Jain and he has approved it. Correct it.

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi Faizan, I saw your HT article and articles by other media houses. Nowhere is an official sanction mentioned and I’ve noted the lack of an official press release at the top of my post. As things stand right now, this is an ‘in-principle’ approval with no official sanction or meaning.

      Reply
  6. Bhanu says:

    Hello TMRG! What are your thoughts on the Airport Express Line? I know its not a part of this phase but with the new lines in phase 3 connecting Terminal 1D directly to Hauz Khas, GK, Sukhdev Vihar, residential areas in Noida and indirectly to Lajpat Nagar, Defence Colony, Sarojini Nagar, Green Park and residential areas of Ghaziabad like Indirapuram (through Noida Sector 62 station), the Airport Express line is going to have serious viability issues which is already facing low ridership numbers.

    I wonder why wasn’t it designed to pass through densely populated residential colonies in South Delhi than running through kind of far flung areas and sparsely populated areas like Delhi Cantonment and a major portion of it running beneath ridge forest. I guess low ridership shouldn’t surprise DMRC then.

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi Bhanu, the Airport Express Line runs along the shortest route between its 2 terminals that it was designed to connect, and I believe it does a good job at that. If it would have deviated from its current path, then construction cost and travel duration would have gone up, thus defeating its purpose.

      One of the biggest issues with the line is that it goes right underneath the CP station, but doesn’t connect to it. Instead it has a station at Shivaji Stadium which is far away from all the ‘action’. The Dhaula Kuan station is also poorly designed. If it were close to the Ring Road, then users from the Pink Line could have easily hoped on. Instead now they’ll have to take a really long FOB, buy another ticket and lose 20-30 minutes in interchanging. Lots of design issues with this line.

      One way to boost ridership would be to extend the line in both ways – to Anand Vihar in the east and to Gurgaon in the south.

      Reply
      • Bhanu says:

        Yeah totally agree with you on Airport Express doing a good job of connecting the two terminals. Used it for the first time to travel to the airport a few days back and must say I was really impressed. 19 mins is all it took to reach T3 from New Delhi station. On top of that, the train is super swanky. But the amount of time spent changing lines and making the long walk from New Delhi Metro Station to Airport Express platform is kind of a bummer.

        And yes the fact that it passes right underneath the CP station but does not connect to it hurts, hurts a lot. I had to change from blue to yellow line, the two most overcrowded lines on the network, just to travel one station away. The whole process of deboarding at New Delhi and walking up to the Airport Express platform is no less a hassle with confusing signage, crowd and on top of it all – non-functioning AFC gates ( Only one gate was working at the entry point to the Airport line and that too kept crashing under the increased load :/ ). Why wasn’t it connected to the CP station? Any idea?

        Reply
  7. Prateek says:

    Hello TMRG! Yes, I was also about to ask this question related to the Dwarka-Gurgaon line? Why wasn’t it included? And some years back, I saw that there was a proposal to connect Kirti Nagar with Dwarka Sector 28? Why is it not there also? It could have relieved traffic congestion between the stretches passing through Mayapuri, Sagarpur and Uttam Nagar. Any thoughts about it? Thanks! 😉

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi Prateek, the Delhi govt cannot approve a line which is based mostly in Haryana. Whenever Haryana’s govt approves the Dwarka-Gurgaon line, the Delhi govt would have to take a decision on whether to fund the small 2 km Dwarka Sec 21-Haryana border section of it or not. Till now, they’ve always funded these sort of extensions to the UP border (for the Noida line) & to the Haryana border (for the Bahadurgarh line), so I don’t see why they would refuse. The line’s DPR is currently being prepared and has a great chance of being included in Phase 4. Give it some time 🙂

      I remember the Kirti Nagar – Dwarka line. That would have been a nice direct connection between the two, but looks like the DMRC would rather connect newer places than densify its network in that part of town.

      Reply
  8. Aditya says:

    I think the airport express line was made to connect the airport to the new delhi railway station and to central delhi i.e. cannaught place.

    Reply
  9. pankaj says:

    Bro.. the only criteria for making underground metro is not the congestion. Otherwise phase 3 line passing through seelampur Krishna nagar Jamia etc would have been underground.
    DMRC make underground metro only for Lutens zone, central and south Delhi.
    Otherwise u tell me why phase 3 line from vasant vihar to Nehru place is underground On outer ring road in spite of so much space. Same is from bhikaji cama to Sarai kale Khan. Anybody can tell that East Delhi is most congested but all the planned line in East are elevated. Tughlakabad to aerocity line will be underground from vasant kunj to saket n will be elevated in khanpur, sanagam vihar etc. Where congestion is very high. Sab paise ka khel hai.. aamero ke liye underground n garibo ke liye elevated. Sreedharan hi that Jo lajpat nagar n kailash colony se elevated le gaya tha, mangu Singh main itni himmat nahi ke south Delhi waalo se panga le sake

    Reply
    • RAMESH says:

      You are absolutely correct. Even you see station like Jorbagh where passengers are very less, escalator are every where, other wise in east Delhi, Hardly one or two escalators.

      Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi Pankaj, if that’s how the routes’ type is decided, then why is the Lajpat Nagar – Kailash Colony – GK-Nehru Place section in south Delhi elevated? And why is the NSCB Place – Shalimar Bagh – Azadpur section in north Delhi underground?

      Reply
      • Pankaj says:

        Hi TMRG,

        During the time of Lajpat Nagar- Kailash Colony-Nehru Place section construction. Residents of these south delhi colony went to court to make it underground as it would spoil the asthetic of the area. Mr. Sreedharan told the court that undergound metro is 3 times costlier than elevated and if these residents pay for the underground i will do so. This was part of Phase 2.

        Now in Phase 3 you can see the biased towards the elite colonies such as GK2, Vasant Vihar, Hauz Khas, GK1, SouthEx, Sarojini Nagar. All the line passing through posh colonies are underground in Phase 3 and proposed phase 4.

        Otherwise how it is possible that in the entire east delhi none of the area is elligible for underground section.

        PS: I am not from east delhi but i am surprised to see the sheer waste of public money when an elevated metro can be easily made from Vasant Vihar to Nehru Place section in Phase 3 and similarly from Bhikaji-Cama to at least Lajpat Nagar Section on ring road and outer ring road. areas such as seelampur, Johripur, Dabri Mod, Mahavir enclave, Khan Pur, Sanagm Vihar etc should have been underground.

        Reply
        • TMRG says:

          Hi Pankaj, 3 things:

          1) No such offer was made by E. Sreedharan to the locals. Protests started in June 2007 and they petitioned the HC in November 2007. At that time, DMRC was chasing the 2010 CWG deadline and even if funds were to be made available (from anywhere), they just wouldn’t have had the time to re-design and build the line underground by Oct 2010. The DMRC was always set on the elevated alignment in the interest of making the line available by the CWG, and made no such offer or announcement.

          2) No disrespect to anyone here, but there’s nothing ‘elite’ about some of the places you have mentioned. What explains the Magenta Line to be underground between Janakpuri and IGI? Are the localities in between (Dashrathpuri, Dabri Mor, Palam) considered to be ‘elite’ as well?

          3) The Pink Line’s route through South Delhi was designed with an attempt to connect all of its commercial hubs along the Ring Road, and this was only possible through an underground route. The Magenta Line’s route is pretty straightforward on the Outer Ring Road and here I agree from a cost perspective, they could have made it elevated along its median & along-side the numerous flyovers.

          Reply
        • Aadisht Khanna says:

          Pankaj;

          the new Rao Tula Ram elevated road will probably make an elevated metro impossible along the Vasant Vihar stretch. Further along, there is Munirka, which being lal dora would have made land acquisition for constructing elevated piers too difficult. I think the only feasible part for elevated metro on the stretch you have mentioned for magenta line is IIT/ RK Puram. Everything else conflicts with a flyover.

          I think that new elevated road is a waste of money, but there it is.

          Reply
  10. harsh says:

    its not that for rich its underground and for poor elevated. pointless statements. underground is the far costly than elevated. security future expansion and policies have to be taken in mind. u can’t risk security by constructing elevated metro in Luten zone. and as underground line from bhikaji to sarai kale khan. its a issue of space crunch. ring roads have to expanded in future for traffic. barapullah flyover is to expanded in phase 4 upto airport. making dpr is not a easy task. lot of issues and future projects have to be kept in mind.

    Reply
    • Pankaj says:

      Hi Harsh, By your logic the entire stretch on ring road from Azadpur to Mayapur should also have underground. Punjabi Bagh, Mayapuri par bhi ring road need an expension in future.

      I also understand the Lutens Zone consideration. But on ring road and outer ring road only south delhi could clear the merit of underground metro that too posh areas are not understandable. Outer ring road to Janakpuri to Madhban Chowk bhi hai with equally crowded space.

      This is biasness by delhi metro. Mr. Sreedharan was against this as Lajpat Nagar- GK-Nehru Place section was made in his time that too elevated. Unfortunately now he is not part of this

      Reply
      • LakshmanPST says:

        The Pink Line from Bhikaji to Nizamuddin is not passing directly over Inner Ring Road. It is passing through areas parallel to the ring road.
        These areas are pretty congested.
        At Punjabi Bagh and Mayapuri, it is along the Ring Road.

        Coming to Magenta Line, the Outer Ring Road is not wide enough at many locations, compared to Inner Ring Road. Moreover, there is a Flyover at every km along this road. And there is no space beside the Flyovers to Bypass them.
        Aboveground in this section is not possible unless land is acquired all along the road.

        Coming to Lutyens area, above ground poses more security risks, compared to underground. It is not advisable in this area.

        Reply
  11. satyendra says:

    HI

    I WNATKNOW ABOUT NEW LINE PHASE IV(New Lines:
    • Tughlakabad – IGI Terminal 1 (22.20 km) – shown in Moss Green
    Type: Elevated & Underground
    Stations: Tughlakabad, Tughlakabad Railway Colony, Anandmayee Marg Junction, Tigri, Khanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Saket G Block, Saket, Lado Sarai, Mehrauli, Kishangar, Masoodpur, Vasant Kunj (Sec-D), Mahipalpur, Delhi Aerocity and IGI Terminal 1)
    WHERE IN MHRAULI METRO STATION LOCATED ?? THE METRO STATIN IN MEHRUALI OR OUT SIDE THE MEHRALI ??

    Reply
  12. Shikhar says:

    NSP- Shalimar Bagh- Azadpur section is Underground because of construction of elevated road by PWD on the ring road from prembari pul (near NSP station) to azadpur, which was under construction when construction of metro section started.

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi, you’re absolutely right that the elevated road had a part to play in the metro route being underground. This again reveals that there are other external variables at play, than the simple elite vs poor reasoning.

      Reply
  13. Aravindan says:

    Hi TMRG . I don’t know much about Delhi. I am from Chennai.
    My question is CMRL is planning entire phase 2 underground. Is it feasible? Can u pls explain. If fully UG won’t it take a lot of time?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi, I haven’t come across any such plan to make Phase 2 entirely underground in Chennai. Let’s wait for the project’s Detailed Project Report to be presented to the state government.

      As for feasibility, underground routes can be designed to reach anywhere in Chennai, but come at a high cost and greater construction time. Both of these are primarily dictated by the geology which can be highly unpredictable even in Chennai as contractors have found out between Egmore – Central – High Court.

      Reply
  14. Aby says:

    Dmrc is running against time to complete phase 3 , waiting for central government’s approval for phase 4 n Delhi government talking about phase 5 to connect about rural areas.. got lol

    Reply
  15. prajnan roy says:

    Dear DMRG, What is the estimated completion timeline (year of operation) for Mukundpur – Maujpur (Pink Line) – 12.54km

    Regards
    Roy

    Reply
  16. Daroga Jee says:

    What happened to the RK AShram Vasant Vihar line ….

    Reply
  17. Rohit says:

    when will the Janakpuri west- Rk ashram line be completed? Any idea? (Estimation)

    Reply
  18. Vinay Gupta says:

    In phase iv metro Line from janakpuri to r k ashram marg, pls tell us the name of stations and which are underground

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi, a list of stations has provided up. Safe to assume that every station south of Azadpur will be underground.

      Reply
  19. kashyap says:

    hi TMRG,

    would you know if there are any approved metro lines from delhi to gurgaon?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi, the Dwarka-Gurgaon line is still on the drawing board. A final DPR is yet to be presented to the Haryana govt. That recent “approval” news was bogus. Journalists covering that event took a piece of info and somehow imagined that the line has been approved.

      Reply
  20. Tanuj says:

    Hi Team MRG,

    Thanks for providing such informations on the website.

    Need to know on the extension phase of Pink Line. Is there any proposed extension from Shiv Vihar?

    Also would like to know how one can suggest their ideas of routes to DMRC.

    Appreciate your effort.

    Thanks & Regards,

    Reply
  21. FLY2 says:

    I expect the Aqua line to be extended to H Nizamuddin…maybe on Phase 5.
    And How about the Blue line expantion to Mohan Nagar? On phase 5 also?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi, the Mohan Nagar extension could take place in Phase 4 itself if the state government approves the DPR’s creation and then follows up with actually approving the project. As of now, only the GDA has given the thumbs up to create its DPR. Like the Red Line’s extension to the New Bus Adda in Phase 3, this could be a late addition to the Phase 4 project. We’ll have to wait and watch

      Reply
      • Mayank Singh says:

        Sir, what exactly is the status of the extension of blue line ahead of vaishali metro towards mohan nagar? Because it is a much needed route so as to connect anand vihar and mohan nagar.

        Reply
        • TMRG says:

          Same as above. DPR is being created right now and then will require GDA and UP govt’s approval before it gets included in Phase 4.

          Reply
  22. Kuldeep Dabas says:

    Dear TMRG,

    The route map of Rithala-Narela corridor looks very difficult to me,As I am a resident of Pooth Khurd and the route which was mentioned in your report seems very unlikely.
    Can you confirm the route of Rithala-Narela extension , specifically that passing through Pooth Khurd.

    Reply
  23. VIKRAM SINHA says:

    AS PER PUBLIC REQUIREMENT AND CONVIENCE THERE SOHULD BE A METRO STATION
    ON MAIN MAHIPALPUR CHOWK COS METRO PASSENGER HAVE CROSS MAHIPALPUR’S CONGESTED CHOWK AND WALK ALL THE WAY TO REACH AEROCITY METRO STATION.ITS RISKY
    AND DANGEROUS TO CROSS SUCH A CONGESTED CHOWK,SO IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST GOVT. CAN ACQUIRE SOME LAND ON MAIN M.PUR CHOWK.

    Reply
  24. Ajay says:

    Hi TMRG,
    Do you have any plan to connect Rohini sect 29 in near future. DDA has alloted 2500 flats in this sector any there in no Metro connectivity.

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      The Red Line will follow Bhagwan Mahavir Marg and pass between sector 32 and 31. From there, Sector 29 is a 10 minute walk.

      Reply
  25. Abhay says:

    Hi TMRG,
    Do you have any plan to connect Rohini sect 29 in near future. DDA has alloted 2500 flats in this sector any there in no Metro connectivity.

    Reply
  26. parvesh lamba says:

    hi sir
    earlier phase 4 (tughlakabad – aerocity) was connecting IGNOU.
    it was really a great episode for the local residents of the area.
    but now it was learnt from the map that the route has been diverted and no metro line is being layed through sainik farm, neb sarai, chhattarpur and other areas.
    is there any future plan for connecting this neb sarai village with metro line having any metro station on IGNOU road or near IGNOU, MAIDAN GARHI.
    why the route was diverted?
    there is a great transport problem in this area and in coming days it will be more and more populated.
    many educational institutes, universities and other govt. bodies are coming in this area
    kindly tell

    Reply
  27. Jaideep Singh says:

    hi TMRG,
    hope the rithala narela line extention is included in the final plan of DMRC phase 4

    Reply
  28. Shailendra says:

    Metro phase 4 corridor Tughlakabad to Aerocity, which part is elevated & which is underground

    Reply
  29. Rahul says:

    Is there any possibility to extend Loni metro line till Trans Delhi Signature city (UPSIDC)?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Yes, if the UP govt and Ghaziabad Development Authority approve and pay for it.

      At this time, it’s not being considered as an addition to Phase 4, but you never know what’ll happen in the next 3-10 years.

      Reply
  30. Jaspreet says:

    Elevated road has been constructed from janakpuri to wazirabad..then metro on these stations would be underground??

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      It’s likely to run elevated along one side of the road and cross-over wherever necessary. From what I know, the Azadpur – RK Ashram section will be entirely underground (around 8 kms) with the rest running elevated in west Delhi.

      Reply
      • Jaspreet says:

        When a plot of land comes in the route of any metro..which has to be acquired by DMRC as per the plan..do they acquire the whole of the plot or as minimum as possible?

        Reply
        • TMRG says:

          This is not my forte, but I believe it depends on a case to case basis. They will never acquire more than what’s required. But if the line’s infra requires a partial demolition or something that affects the overall structure’s stability, then they’ll have to acquire it all.

          Reply
  31. Amar Singh says:

    Is there any chance of getting metro station at Sangam Vihar

    Reply

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