Delhi Metro Phase 3 – January 2017 Tunneling Update

Here’s this month’s installment of the Delhi Metro Phase 3 Tunneling Update. All the information in this post is accurate as of January 1 and details from the previous update in December 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.

A tunnel built for the Violet line in Phase 2 – Photo Copyright: Anindito Mukherjee

According to the DMRC, 48.06 km of the 190 km Phase 1 & 2 network is underground. In Phase 3, 53.835 km of the 160.574 km project 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 and with some places requiring multiple TBMs to build 1 tunnel (eg. Vasant Vihar – Munirka’s down-line tunnel required 2 TBMs & both tunnels of Mukundpur-Azadpur required 4 TBMs) – that brings it up to a total of 80 tunneling drives.

Here’s a line wise update on different sections:

Violet Line – Line 6 – Central Secretariat – Kashmere Gate

Number of Pending TBM Breakthroughs: 0

• The Central Secretariat – 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.

• The final TBM breakthrough for this line took place at the Delhi Gate station’s TBM receiving shaft in mid March: TBM Makes Final Breakthrough at Delhi Metro’s Delhi Gate Station

• In late November 2016, the Era – Mestrostroy JV completed excavating a pair of 220m tunnels north of the Kashmere Gate using the sequential New Austrian Tunneling Method – see details & images.

In November, DMRC first blamed delays on demonitization and then later on a 7 day construction ban (which, by the way, wasn’t adhered to) due to smog in region. In December-end, the DMRC suggested a January-end opening for the 5.37 km ITO – Kashmere Gate section as some sort of a “New Year Gift”. However, with (1) a lot of finishing work still pending at Lal Qila station, Kashmere Gate station (see image) and the Haryana Canal Shaft (see image) (2) integrated trial runs along the entire stretch yet to commence, and (3) the time taken to apply for the CMRS’ safety inspection, conduct and approve the line for commercial operations, a January-end opening will just not be possible.

Projected Opening: Q2-Q3 2017

Pink Line – Line 7 – Mukundpur – Shiv Vihar

Number of Pending TBM Breakthroughs: 2 (Gurdwara Shaft)

• Since the August update, a double TBM breakthrough has been recorded at Vinobhapuri to mark the end of tunneling works on this line. See details & images here: Final Double TBM Breakthrough Achieved for Delhi Metro’s Pink Line

• In December, parts of TBM S781 and S495 were lifted out from the Gurdwara Emergency Shaft between Majlis Park and Azadpur. With this, the up-line tunnel is now “free” for finishing, track and sub-system installation work.  This month, TBM S496’s parts on the parallel down-line tunnel are expected to be taken out followed by TBM S780 in February.

The DMRC  launched “trial runs” from the Mukundpur Depot in an elaborate event held in May, but it was just for show (see details) as the CC-04 tunnels, right outside the depot, were still under construction. As things stand right now, this line’s construction (both underground & elevated) is running more than 1.5 years behind schedule.

Projected Opening: The line will open in stages with a final opening estimated to take place in the 2nd half of 2018. The first stretch between Mukundpur – Vinobhapuri is expected to open either by 2017-end or in Q1 2018 depending on the progress made at the Gurdwara Emergency Shaft. The rest of the line’s opening will take place in 2018 and depends largely on the progress made at Trilokpuri (demolition is yet to start), Vinod Nagar (NH24), IP Extension, Hassanpur and the Anand Vihar railway station (see image).

Magenta Line – Line 8 – Janakpuri W – Botanical Garden

Number of Pending TBM Breakthroughs: 0

• 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

• In December, the DMRC air-lifted and placed 6 coaches of a train on to the line’s tracks at Sadar Bazaar Cantonment Station – see images & info here. Followed by that, it started trial runs on the 10 km Janakpuri – Airport section – see images & info here. With this, only the commencement of trial runs on the 15 km ‘mid-section’ of the line, between the T1 Airport – Kalkaji, is pending.

Projected Opening: The line will open in stages with a final opening estimated to take place in Q1 2018:
Botanical Garden – Kalkaji Mandir: Q2 2017
Kalkaji Mandir – Janakpuri West: 2017-end or Q1 2018

Line 9 – Dwarka – Najafgarh

Number of Pending TBM Breakthroughs: 1

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. TBM S197 completed building the west-bound tunnel on June 25, 2016 and was subsequently relaunched in September. As of January 5, only 25 rings (35m) are pending and the contractor is now looking to make a final breakthrough on January 15 which would mark an end to Phase 3’s tunneling works.

This line has been officially designated as Line 9 and as per one news source, the line will be called the Grey Line. The DMRC is yet to officially confirm that.

Projected Opening: Q2 2018

If you have any questions or need specific TBM launch/breakthrough info, then please leave a comment below. For images from construction sites and more news, see my Twitter feed.

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

– TMRG