Afcons’ Delhi Metro TBM Tejas Records Breakthrough at Tughlakabad Railway Colony

Afcons Infrastructure on Tuesday celebrated Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Tejas’ second breakthrough at Tughlakabad Railway Colony Station of Delhi Metro’s 23.622 km Golden Line (Line-10) which will connect Aerocity – Tughalakabad via 16 stations.

TBM Tejas (S-711) is a refurbished Herrenknecht Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) machine that previously saw action in Chennai Metro’s Phase 1 project between 2014-2018.

In November 2023, it became Afcons’ second TBM to start tunneling works for the 112.32 km km Delhi Metro Phase 4 project’s 6.981 km Package DC-07 connecting Sangam Vihar Station and Sarita Vihar Depot.

The machine’s first assignment involved building a 2.674 km tunnel for the down-line from Airforce Launch Shaft, located just east of Sangam Vihar Station, and arrived at Maa Anandmayee Marg Station in January 2025.

For its latest assignment, TBM Tejas built a 782m tunnel, also for the down-line, from Maa Anandmayee Marg Station to Tughlakabad Railway Colony and erected 553 tunnel rings along the way.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)’s press release interestingly and incorrectly states that the machine built the tunnel “between Tughlakabad and Tughlakabad Railway colony“.

DMRC had awarded Afcons with Package DC-07’s Rs. 1669.20 crore contract in January 2022 with a 42 month deadline.

Afcons’ 6.981 km Package DC-07 connects Sangam Vihar Station’s east-end and Sarita Vihar Depot via 3 stations at Maa Anandmayee Marg, Tughlakabad Railway Colony, and Tughlakabad where it will form an interchange with the Violet Line’s station built in Phase 2.

Work for the parallel up-line tunnel was completed by TBM Amrit (Robbins 372) in June. With this development, TBM S-711’s job for DC-07 is over and its future remains unknown to me.

Overall a total of 13 tunnel breakthroughs have been recorded so far for the Golden Line. From east to west: 5 by Afcons for Package DC-07, 6 by L&T for Package DC-09, and 2 by J Kumar on Package DC-08.

For Afcons the only 3 tunnels remaining to be completed are:

• Tughlakabad Station to Tughlakabad Railway Colony Station (down-line) by TBM 364 anytime now
• Tughlakabad Station to Sarita Vihar Depot (up-line)
• Tughlakabad Station to Sarita Vihar Depot (down-line)

For more updates, check out the Delhi Metro section or my Home Page! Sign up for free instant email notifications on new posts over here. Like this post? Get early-access to all updates and support the site over here.

– TMRG