Delhi Metro Phase 3 – February 2016 Tunneling Update

Here’s a comprehensive list of Delhi Metro’s Phase 3 tunnels and their current progress as of February 1 2016! For my January 2016 post, please see the January 2016 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 & map 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 significant sections not being constructed by a TBM are:

1) Kalkaji Mandir – Lotus (Bahá’í) Temple shaft – This section 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) Nizamuddin Station – Ring Road shaft – This section 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. As of the morning of January 29, 390 rings (546 m) have been built out of 675 rings (945 m). Construction on this line 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 January update, zero breakthroughs have been made on this line. 
• Between Lal Qila (Red Fort) and Kashmere Gate, 1 TBM on the up-line made a breakthrough on August 3 while a second breakthrough on the down-line is expected to be made on February 4.
• Between Jama Masjid and Delhi Gate, the up-line TBM that was launched in November has only 15 more rings to build. A breakthrough at the Golcha mid-shaft will be made this month.

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 January update, a 2nd TBM breakthrough has been made at the Sarojini Nagar station from the Bhikaji Cama Place station for CC-18. With that, all twin tunnels between Bhikaji Cama Place and Vinobhapuri are now complete.
• For the Azadpur – Majlis Park section of CC-04, the DMRC has completed land acquisition at Azadpur to build a new mid-shaft. 2 new TBMs leased from HCC-Samsung (CC-34) have arrived at the Majlis Park shaft from where they will be commissioned in March to complete the balance (roughly 600m) work. If things go as planned, tunneling will be wrapped up in Q3 2016.
• TBM 1 on the down-line between Naraina Vihar and the Mayapuri shaft (CC-18) is expected to make a breakthrough on February 2 – less than 2 months after being commissioned!

As things stand, the underground component of this line is running more than a couple months behind schedule. It is highly unlikely that the new Hyundai Rotem trains procured for Phase 3 will even venture out of the Mukundpur depot this year for conducting trials.

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 January update, zero breakthroughs have taken place. The 1st TBM between Chirag Delhi and Greater Kailash to build the up-line tunnel was commissioned on January 17.  The 2nd one for the down-line will be commissioned on/around February 10.

With a mid-May 2016 deadline for both contractors of CC-23 and CC-27, the construction of the underground component of this line is progressing on schedule, but it’ll be a tight race to the finish.

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