Delhi Metro Phase 3 – January 2016 Tunneling Update

Here’s a comprehensive list of Delhi Metro’s Phase 3 tunnels and their current progress as of January 1 2016! For my December 2015 post, please see the December 2015 Tunneling Update. Beneath each table, I’ve included additional notes with information. In case you’re unaware of Delhi’s geography or need a map to help visualize what goes where, then you can refer to the Delhi Metro Phase 3 page or the DMRC’s Phase 3 map.

A tunnel built for the Violet line in Phase 2 – Photo Copyright: Anindito Mukherjee

According to the footnotes on the DMRC’s Phase 3 map, 48.06 km of the 190 km Phase 1 & 2 network is underground. In Phase 3, 53.835 km of the 159.327 km is being built underground.

Phase 3 includes a total of 40 sections of which 38 have/will be built using a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM). That’s a total of 76 tunneling drives. The other 2 sections not being constructed by a TBM are:

1) The Kalkaji Mandir – Lotus (Bahá’í) Temple shaft on the Magenta line has been constructed using the New Austrian Tunneling method (NATM) which has previously been used to tunnel underneath the Ridge for the Airport Express line and beneath Chawri Bazar and Saket for the Yellow line

2) The Nizamuddin Station to Ring Road shaft is being constructed by the cut and cover method – see Google Earth satellite imagery.

Here’s a line wise update on different sections:

Blue Line – Line 3 – Dwarka – Najafgarh extension

This section was a late addition to Phase 3. The Letter of Acceptance to the contractor was given on 11.04.2014 with a completion deadline of 20.04.2017. Tunneling on the westbound tunnel began on November 2 – see: Delhi Metro Starts Tunneling on Najafgarh Branch of the Blue Line. Construction is progressing on schedule.

Violet Line – Line 6 – Central Secretariat to Kashmere Gate

• The Central Secretariat to Mandi House section was opened for commercial operations on June 26, 2014. A further extension northward to the ITO station was opened on June 8, 2015.
• Since my December update, zero breakthroughs have been made on this line. 
• Between Lal Qila (Red Fort) and Kashmere Gate, 1 TBM made a breakthrough on August 3 while a second breakthrough is expected to be made in the middle of January.

CC-05 had a deadline of 29.07.15 while CC-07 had a deadline of 12.09.15, so overall construction on the Violet line is running more than half a year behind schedule due to a host of reasons which include difficult tunneling conditions and internal contractor issues.

Pink Line – Line 7 – Mukundpur – Shiv Vihar

• Since my December update, tunneling has commenced on the Naraina Vihar station – Mayapuri shaft and the RK Puram shaft – Bhikaji Cama Place station sections. With this, all sections of this line are now being worked on!
• A second breakthrough at Sarojini Nagar from Bhikaji Cama Place is expected to take place in January.
• For the Azadpur – Majlis Park section, the DMRC is in the process of acquiring private properties in Azadpur to construct a mid-shaft so that 2 additional TBMs can be launched from the Majlis Park shaft to finish the remaining portion (roughly 600m) of the tunnels. The contractor is hoping to launch the TBMs by March and wrap up tunneling in Q3 2016.

Having said that, this line is now running behind schedule by a couple months due to the delay in completing the Azadpur – Majlis Park section. Last month, I was asked why I hadn’t declared this earlier. Allow me to answer that with an example. If a task is due in 10 days and it takes 3 days to start & complete (also known as lead time) it, then the delay isn’t recognized until the 8th day is over. 

While the pace of underground tunneling is largely dependent on the terrain of the land, the pace of constructing an elevated line is completely dependent on factors influenced by policy & approvals. It is the responsibility of the local authority/government to provide an unencumbered right-of-way, but at the time of writing this, the Delhi Government still hasn’t formulated a policy for rehabilitating slum residents. This has resulted in two 100+m wide gaps at Punjabi Bagh & Mayapuri in west Delhi. If this policy is not formulated & approved by time the Azadpur-Majlis Park section is completed, then any delay in commissioning this line will entirely be blamed on the Delhi government.

Magenta Line – Line 8 – Janakpuri W – Botanical Garden

• Apart from small sections at Saddar Bazaar & Shankar Vihar, the entire line is underground in south-west and south Delhi. The south-eastern section beyond Modi Mills is elevated.
• The Kalkaji Mandir – Lotus (Bahá’í) Temple shaft has been constructed using the New Austrian Tunneling method (NATM). For some cool images of it shot during construction, see: NATM Tunnel at Kalkaji in Delhi Almost Complete
• Since the December update, two breakthroughs have taken place on this line. The first was at Panchsheel Park from Chirag Delhi and the second was at the RK Puram mid-shaft from Munirka.
• Tunneling work between Chirag Delhi and Greater Kailash will commence in early January.

With a mid-May deadline for the contractors of CC-23 and CC-27, the construction of this line is progressing on schedule.

If you have any questions or need specific TBM launch/breakthrough info, then please leave a comment below!

For more updates on Delhi Metro’s Phase III, check out the Delhi section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG