Delhi Metro Phase 3 – April 2016 Tunneling Update

Well, well – it’s April already! Here’s my Delhi Metro Phase 3 tunneling update for this month.

All the data in this post is correct as of April 1 and details from the March update can be viewed here. 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.

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 160.574 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

Number of Pending TBM Breakthroughs: 2

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 2015 – see: Delhi Metro Starts Tunneling on Najafgarh Branch of the Blue Line. As of the morning of April 1, 355 rings (497 m) have been built out of 475 rings (665 m) and the 1st breakthrough can be expected to take place in May! 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	Complete
CC-07	Era – Metrostroy	Jama Masjid	Lal Qila	Complete
CC-07	Era – Metrostroy	Lal Qila	Kashmere Gate	Complete

Number of Pending TBM Breakthroughs: 0

• The Central Secretariat to Mandi House section opened for commercial operations on June 26, 2014. A further extension northward to the ITO station was opened on June 8, 2015.

• Since my March update, a final TBM breakthrough at the Delhi Gate station’s TBM receiving shaft has taken place: TBM Makes Final Breakthrough at Delhi Metro’s Delhi Gate Station

While the DMRC has announced that it would open this line by September 2016, internally it’s aiming to open it by Independence Day (Aug 15) and has chalked out a plan to send their application for the CMRS’ inspection by June 30. See: DMRC Internally Aiming to Start ITO – Kashmere Gate Line Before I-Day for more details!

CC-05 had a deadline of 29.07.15 while CC-07 had a deadline of 12.09.15, so quite clearly the line’s construction is running more than half a year behind schedule. The DMRC on their website recently revised the line’s deadline from March 2016 to September 2016.

 

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	Complete
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

Number of Pending TBM Breakthroughs: 6 (see list)

• Since my March update, one TBM breakthrough has taken place at the Mayapuri shaft – see: TBM Makes 2nd Breakthrough at Delhi Metro’s Mayapuri Shaft.

• In April, I’m expecting 1 breakthrough to take place at the Bhikaji Cama Place station for the up-line’s tunnel. The TBM building this tunnel from the RKP shaft was commissioned in December 2015.

• For the Azadpur – Majlis Park section of CC-04, in February the CEC-CICI JV started lowering parts of a TBM into the Majlis Park shaft and should commission the TBM by the first week of April to complete the balance 600m of the down-line tunnel towards Azadpur. If things go as planned, tunneling will be wrapped up in Q3 2016. Update: The 1st of 2 TBMs was commissioned on March 30!

As things stand right now, this line’s construction (both underground & elevated) is running half a year behind schedule. It would be a miracle if the new Hyundai Rotem trains procured for Phase 3’s new lines will even venture out of the Mukundpur depot this year for conducting trial runs.

 

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	Complete
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

Number of Pending TBM Breakthroughs: 6 (see list)

• 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 March update, 2 TBM breakthroughs have taken place on this line:
1) TBM Makes 4th Breakthrough at Delhi Metro’s Panchsheel Park Station
2) TBM Makes Breakthrough at Delhi Metro’s Aravali Mid-Shaft

• In April, I’m expecting another 2 breakthroughs to take place:
1) At the Greater Kailash station for the up-line tunnel. The TBM building this tunnel from Chirag Delhi was commissioned in January 2016.
2) At the Nehru Enclave station for the down-line tunnel. The TBM building this tunnel from Greater Kailash was commissioned in November 2015.

• The last TBM to excavate and build for this line was commissioned from the Chirag Delhi station on February 10. For images and details, see: Last TBM Commissioned for Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line at Chirag Delhi.

With a mid-May 2016 deadline for both contractors of CC-23 and CC-27, construction of the underground component of this line is progressing a couple of months behind schedule.  Trial runs on the elevated part (Kalindi Kunj-Kalkaji) are expected to begin by the middle of the year and operations possibly in/by December, but the underground section (Kalkaji – Janakpuri W) will only start operations in the first half of 2017.

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