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.

Photo Copyright: Anindito Mukherjee - Popular Science

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

Contract Contractor Station/Shaft Station/Shaft Status
CC-66 HCC Sai Baba Mandir Shaft Najafgarh/MCD In Progress

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

Contract Contractor Station/Shaft Station/Shaft Status
CC-01 Pratibha-CRFG Central Sec. Shaft Janpath Operational
CC-01 Pratibha-CRFG Janpath Mandi House Operational
CC-05 L&T – SUCG Mandi House ITO Operational
CC-05 L&T – SUCG ITO Delhi Gate Complete
CC-05 L&T – SUCG Delhi Gate Jama Masjid In Progress
CC-07 Era – Metrostroy Jama Masjid Lal Qila Complete
CC-07 Era – Metrostroy Lal Qila Kashmere Gate In Progress

• 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

Contract Contractor Station/Shaft Station/Shaft Status
CC-04 CEC – CICI Majlis Park Shaft Azadpur In Progress
CC-04 CEC – CICI Azadpur Shalimar Bagh Complete
CC-30 HCC Shalimar Bagh Netaji Subhash Place Complete
CC-20 J Kumar – CRTG Mayapuri Shaft Naraina Vihar In Progress
CC-20 J Kumar – CRTG Naraina Vihar Delhi Cantt Shaft Complete
CC-18 Pratibha – FEMC RK Puram Shaft Bhikaji Cama Place In Progress
CC-18 Pratibha – FEMC Bhikaji Cama Place Sarojini Market Complete
CC-18 Pratibha – FEMC Sarojini Market INA Complete
CC-18 Pratibha – FEMC INA South Extension Complete
CC-18 Pratibha – FEMC South Extension Lajpat Nagar Complete
CC-24 J Kumar – CRTG Lajpat Nagar Vinobhapuri Complete
CC-24 J Kumar – CRTG Vinobhapuri Ashram In Progress
CC-24 J Kumar – CRTG Ashram Hazrat Nizamuddin Complete

• 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

Contract Contractor Station/Shaft Station/Shaft Status
CC-34 HCC – Samsung Vikaspuri Shaft Janakpuri W Complete
CC-34 HCC – Samsung Janakpuri W Dabri Mor Complete
CC-34 HCC – Samsung Dabri Mor Dashratpuri Complete
CC-34 HCC – Samsung Dashrat Puri Palam Complete
CC-32 ITD – ITD Cem Palam Saddar Bazaar W Shaft Complete
CC-32 ITD – ITD Cem Saddar Bazaar E Shaft IGI-Domestic Complete
CC-32 ITD – ITD Cem IGI-Domestic Shankar Vihar Complete
CC-27 L&T – SUCG Shankar Vihar Vasant Vihar In Progress
CC-27 L&T – SUCG Vasant Vihar Munirka In Progress
CC-27 L&T – SUCG Munirka RK Puram Complete
CC-27 L&T – SUCG RK Puram IIT Complete
CC-27 L&T – SUCG IIT Hauz Khas Complete
CC-23 Pratibha – FEMC Hauz Khas Panchsheel Park Complete
CC-23 Pratibha – FEMC Panchsheel Park Chirag Delhi In Progress
CC-23 Pratibha – FEMC Chirag Delhi Greater Kailash In Progress
CC-23 Pratibha – FEMC Greater Kailash Nehru Enclave In Progress
CC-23 Pratibha – FEMC Nehru Enclave Kalkaji Mandir Complete
CC-23 Pratibha – FEMC Kalkaji Mandir Lotus Temple Shaft Complete

• 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

written by

Global traveler who prefers mass rapid transit

18 Responses to "Delhi Metro Phase 3 – February 2016 Tunneling Update"

  1. mridul yadav says:

    When will the TBM breakthrough between shankar vihar and vasant vihar be supposed to get completed on the magenta line?? U have not given any info about that section.

    Reply
  2. mridul yadav says:

    And please provide info for the greater kailash -nehru enclave section also , on the magenta line..

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      TBM on the Upline has 110 rings left and will make a breakthrough this month. Downline has 570 rings left and is expected to make a breakthrough in April/May.

      Reply
  3. Mridul yadav says:

    I want to know that which tunnels are the longest constructed tunnels in the phase 3 exapansion of delhi metro????

    Can u give the list please???

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      The longest 3 are all located on the Pink line:
      1) Ashram – Hazrat Nizamuddin – 1654m
      2) South Ex – Lajpat Nagar – 1565m
      2) Azadpur – Shalimar Bagh 1445m

      Reply
  4. Mridul yadav says:

    Anymore tunneling breakthroughs which can happen in upcoming days or have happened in last one or two days but havent been covered by u in ur update??

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      5 more are expected this month. I’ll cover them as and when they take place.
      1) Violet line – at Golcha mid-shaft from Delhi Gate station
      2) Pink line – at Mayapuri Shaft from Naraina Vihar station
      3) Magenta line – at Aravali mid-shaft from Vasant Vihar station
      4) Magenta line – at Panchsheel Park station from Chirag Delhi station
      5) Magenta line – at Nehru Enclave station from Greater Kailash station

      Reply
  5. Bharat says:

    Please also provide station wise status of progress of elevated section of Magenta line 8

    Reply
  6. Uday says:

    Thanks for the regular updates, when will the tunnelling work be complete at Ashram crossing (part of Janakpuri Botanical garden line

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Hi, the Ashram crossing section is part of the Pink line from Mukundpur to Shiv Vihar. Tunneling from Ashram to Vinobhapuri will be wrapped up within the next 45 days. Roughly 200m of tunnels are left to be built on both up & down lines.

      Reply
  7. Yash Pal Aggarwal says:

    Ur information of a new line of 18.6 KM in Phase IV from Dwarka -to Kanjhawla is a Gift to all . My question is about what time a Final DPR would be released by Delhi Metro ?

    Reply
  8. MAx says:

    So when do we expect the line to be functional? Reality vs. Estimated?

    Reply
  9. Sankalp srivatava says:

    Sir,
    can i get the complete list if phase 3 metro as per CC involving the contractor, stretch, no of TBM’s and there current status.
    Regards

    Reply

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