DMRC Modifies Alignment of Phase 4’s Saket – Lajpat Nagar Line

So back in October 2016, I wrote about the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) revealing the alignment of Delhi’s upcoming 7.96 km Saket – Lajpat Nagar line through a dedicated webpage on their site for demarcating the influence zones of all existing, under construction and proposed lines. The southern alignment of that new line has now been modified considerably and for the most part will run on Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg where the infamous BRT line was built, operated and later scrapped.

This mostly-elevated line is envisioned as a spur/branch of the upcoming 20.20 km Tughlakabad – Aerocity line, and in its previous avatar was supposed to consist of 6 stations at Saket G-Block, Sheikh Sarai, Chirag Delhi, GK-1, Andrews Ganj and Lajpat Nagar.

In the new plan and alignment which appears to have been published in mid-June, the line will have 9 stations at Saket G-Block, Saket J-Block, Select City Walk, Amity International School, Pushp Vihar Sector-7, Chirag Delhi (interchange with Magenta Line), Sadiq Nagar/Greater Kailash, Andrews Ganj and Lajpat Nagar (interchange with Violet & Pink lines).

I’ve reproduced the DMRC’s new map here displaying the location of all the proposed stations. An unadulterated version of it can be viewed here on their website.

New alignment of Saket – Lajpat Nagar line – view Delhi Metro Phase 3 map & info

The old alignment, for comparison, can be viewed here.

Couple of pointers –

• 5 stations within 2.8 kms of each other in the Saket – Pushp Vihar neighborhood seems like an overkill which will increase commute time.  I’d like to see the station at Saket’s J-Block getting dropped and the stations at Amity International School & Pushp Vihar getting combined into one.

• The Saket G-Block Station has been moved a little to the east. Instead of coming up south of Saket’s G-Block where ‘City Forest’ is marked above, it’s now proposed to come up at the Army Campgrounds in Pushp Vihar’s Sector-2. If this new location is frozen, then its name is likely to be changed.

• The line’s orientation has also changed, so anyone trying to get from GK to the airport’s Aerocity Station will now have to switch trains at Saket G-Block as the trains will enter the station from the west-end instead of the east-end. That’s not quite ideal, as I believe a majority of users would rather head west towards Mehrauli rather than east towards Badarpur. Traffic projections perhaps suggest the opposite.

Old train operation plan:
Aerocity ⇄ Saket ⇄ Tughlakabad
Aerocity ⇄ Saket ⇄ Lajpat Nagar

New train operation plan:
Aerocity ⇄ Saket ⇄ Tughlakabad
Lajpat Nagar ⇄ Saket ⇄ Tughlakabad

• Depending on the ongoing geotechnical surveys’ results, the line could possibly be further realigned or fine-tuned.

• There was recently some news of the central government approving this line’s extension to IGNOU (southward) and Jaitpur (eastward). That’s not true at all and highly misleading. My thoughts can be seen here.

Phase 4’s Current Status

Apart from Haryana government’s approval for the Red Line’s 4.86 km extension to Kundli in early June, things haven’t significantly changed in the pre-construction stage since my previous update which included an updated official map & detailed table of the project.

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

– TMRG

Hat Tip to Vibhav Sharma

written by

Global traveler who prefers mass rapid transit

25 Responses to "DMRC Modifies Alignment of Phase 4’s Saket – Lajpat Nagar Line"

  1. ABHEEK SAHA says:

    Last I read Delhi govt. is wrangling with the Central Govt. about their respective share of taxes for Phase IV. Given the current situation, I will be glad if they manage to start the full Phase III over the next six months.

    What is the impact of GST on Metro construction? Does anyone have any idea?

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Not a GST expert, but from what I know the rate on the construction sector has been hiked up to 18% from 12%. The industry will likely pass on the cost to metro operators, so cost/km will go up.

      Reply
  2. Abboy Shankar E L says:

    Is there any option to restrict receipt of updates to namma metro only ???? I do not wish to receive mails on all the other metros in the country, is there any option for us to set filters ???? Unsubscribe will result in all content getting blocked

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Sorry for that – I know it’s a little annoying. There’s nothing on my end that I can do for readers to sign up for specific cities.

      I know one of my followers uses an ITT workflow to send him an email when new BLR posts are made. Google it and give it a try.

      Reply
  3. sunil chakravarty says:

    what is the expected date of commencement of construction of the lajpat ngr saket metro line

    what portion of this line is underground , will the Mandir Marg be closed for traffic in the event

    this alignment becomes final.

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Source of funding remains an issue, and with the standard bidding process in place – ground work at this time cannot start before mid-2018.

      Once a contractor is assigned, they’ll come up with a traffic diversion plan which’ll determine whether the road will be closed or partially closed.

      Reply
  4. KK says:

    Hi TMRG

    Isn’t it possible for the trains coming from lajpat Nagar to reverse at Saket-G block and go towards airport??

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Technically possible, but not operationally friendly. Trains will have to either have 2 operators (or have 1 and have him run to the other end) and this will increase dwell time.

      Reply
  5. Aby k says:

    Saw geotopical survey on brt corridor now u confirmed it but strange route dimensions n as well no of stations on tat little stretch is too many

    Reply
  6. sunil chakravarty says:

    Between select city walk station and G block station the distance is hardly 1km ,

    Jblock station appears to be a luxury for the local residents which they may enjoy

    after lot of incoveiences during the construction including dust pollution for years

    and lots of money will be spent by DMRC . YOUR valuable comments !!!

    Reply
  7. sunil Chakravarty says:

    Will u please reproduce the dmrc published inf in more details ie 1.of the 9 stations which ones are underground 2. Will underground section be constructed by tunneling or open to sky methods.

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      DMRC hasn’t revealed which stations will be underground and which will elevated. My hunch: Saket – Pushp Vihar will be underground while the rest to Lajpat Nagar will be elevated. Let’s wait and watch.

      Stations are always constructed using one of these methods – cut & cover, top-down or NATM. The construction method will depend on geological conditions.

      Reply
  8. sunil chakravarty says:

    Hi TMRG

    No reply to queries fo quite some time ??

    Reply
    • TMRG says:

      Just replied 🙂

      Reply
      • deepali says:

        Hi.. phase 3 dmrc is about to finish but no news of commencement of delhi metro phase 4… how much time this geotechnical survey takes and when tenders will be called and when construction will start.. ? Any idea

        Reply
        • ABHEEK SAHA says:

          Phase 3 is still six to nine months from finish at the very least. However, given the current Delhi Govt’s seeming disinterest, I don’t have a great deal of hope for Phase 4 starting anytime soon. Unless the L.G. steps in.

          Reply
  9. sunil chakravarty says:

    thanks ! pl do post any new devlopments regarding this line specially in alignment

    and change in number of stations .

    Reply
  10. Rohit Kumar says:

    Sir new metro route baderpur to mehrauli kab suru hoga plz inform kitine metro stop hoge is route par kab suru hoga our finesh kitne time hoga

    Reply
  11. sunil chakravarty says:

    fresh soil samples are being collected along the old proposed alignment

    ie along the road bisecting saket courts and saket mallsfurther going to asian market on MB Road

    passing through pushap vihar Sec 1 near NBCC Plaza.

    Is there achange of plans ie not having stations at select city mall and J BLOCK Saket ?

    Reply
  12. Anirudh says:

    Soil testing is under progress at various places on Ignou Road. Does that confirm the extension of line to Ignou?
    Please provide any update available on extension.
    Thanks.

    Reply
  13. sunil chakravarty says:

    No response to my query dt 7th dec 2017 .

    Reply
  14. Sameer Ahmad says:

    Dmrc website shows the map of phase 4 which includes lajpat nagar- chattarpur line via IGNOU

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply to TMRG Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *