Delhi Metro Magenta Line’s Final Stretch to be Inaugurated on May 28

After receiving the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety’s approval last week, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) today announced that it will inaugurate commercial services on the 25.6 km Janakpuri West –  Kalkaji Mandir section of the new 38.235 km Magenta Line (Line-8) on May 28 and start commercial operations on May 29 at 6 am.

Here’s a part of DMRC’s press release. Note that the CMRS’ approval report mentions the line to be 24.82 km long.

The 25.6 kilometre long Janakpuri West – Kalkaji Mandir Metro corridor will be formally flagged off by the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge), Sh. Hardeep Singh Puri and Chief Minister of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Sh. Arvind Kejriwal  on 28th May (Monday) at 4.30 PM from the Nehru Enclave Metro station.

The respected dignitaries will flag off the inaugural train from Nehru Enclave and then travel to Hauz Khas. Passenger services on the stretch will begin from the next day, i.e, 29th May, 2018 from 6 AM from the Kalkaji Mandir and Janakpuri West stations simultaneously.

This section, comprising of 16 stations, will be the longest opened so far in Delhi Metro’s Phase 3. With the opening of this stretch, the entire 38.2 kilometre long Janakpuri West – Botanical Garden Magenta corridor covering the city’s arterial Outer Ring Road will become operational.

The highlights of this corridor will be the two new interchange facilities that will come up at Janakpuri West (with the Dwarka – NOIDA/ Vaishali Blue Line) and Hauz Khas (with the HUDA City Centre – Samaypur Badli Yellow line). The domestic terminals of the Indira Gandhi International Airport will also get directly connected by the Metro. Commuters travelling from Gurugram will now be able to change trains at Hauz Khas to reach south Delhi and NOIDA. Residents of NOIDA will also get direct connectivity to the domestic terminal of the airport.

More details on the DMRC’s operational plan will be added here when known.

After the 12.64 km Botanical Garden – Kalkaji Mandir section of this line opened in December 2017, the DMRC began full length trial runs (testing) between Janakpuri West and Kalkaji Mandir in January 2018 (testing on the Janakpuri West – IGI had commenced in December 2016). Signalling tests were completed in early April 2018 following which a thorough 3-day final inspection was conducted by the CMRS between May 8-10.

Photo Copyright: Money Control

This 25.60 km section of the line includes 16 stations (2 elevated and 14 underground) at Janakpuri West (new station box for interchange with Blue Line), Dabri Mor, Dashratpuri, Palam, Sadar Bazar Cantonment (elevated), IGI Terminal-1, Shankar Vihar (elevated), Vasant Vihar, Munirka, RK Puram, IIT-Delhi, Hauz Khas (new station box for interchange with Yellow Line), Panchsheel Park, Chirag Delhi, Greater Kailash, GK and Nehru Enclave. Due to a lack of space, I’ve marked only some of the stations below. A full map can be viewed here.

Map of Janakpuri West – Kalkaji section of Magenta Line – view full map and PH3 info

This section was built by 5 civil contractors –

• CC-34 – Janakpuri W – Palam by HCC – Samsung JV
• CC-32 – Palam – Shankar Vihar by ITD – ITD Cem JV
• CC-29 – 4 Ramps & Elevated Sadar Bazar & Shankar Vihar Stations by Afcons Infra
• CC-27 – Shankar Vihar – Hauz Khas by L&T – SUCG JV
• CC-23 – Hauz Khas – Kalkaji Mandir by Pratibha – FEMC JV

After its inauguration, about 87.34 km of Phase 3’s 162.5 km routes will be operational and the entire Delhi Metro network will become about 278 km long with 199 stations. Stay tuned for a post on its inauguration!

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

– TMRG