Delhi Metro Phase 3 – March 2016 Tunneling Update

I just got back from a much needed vacation (see pics here & here), so excuse the delay in publishing this month’s tunneling update!

All the data in this post is correct as of March 1 and details from the February 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.

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

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 159.327 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

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 March 1, 485 rings (679 m) have been built out of 675 rings (945 m). Construction on this line is progressing on schedule.

Violet Line – Line 6 – Central Secretariat to Kashmere Gate

• 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 February update, 2 breakthroughs have taken place on this line:
February 4: TBM Makes Breakthrough at Delhi Metro’s Lal Qila Station
February 9: TBM Makes Breakthrough at Delhi Metro’s Golcha Mid-Shaft
• Two more breakthroughs are left on this line: (1) At Golcha mid-shaft for up-line tunnel and (2) At Delhi Gate station’s TBM receiving shaft for the down-line tunnel. Both can be expected to take place within the next 30 days. 

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 has now revised the line’s deadline from March 2016 to September 2016.

Pink Line – Line 7 – Mukundpur – Shiv Vihar

• Since my February update, one breakthrough has taken place at the Mayapuri shaft – see: TBM Makes Breakthrough at Delhi Metro’s Mayapuri Shaft
• For the Azadpur – Majlis Park section of CC-04, last month, CEC-CICI 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.

As things stand, the construction of the underground component of this line is running half a year behind schedule. It is highly unlikely that the new Hyundai Rotem trains procured for Phase 3 will even venture out of the Mukundpur depot this year for conducting trials runs.

Magenta Line – Line 8 – Janakpuri W – Botanical Garden

• 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 February update, 1 breakthrough has taken place on this line: TBM Makes Breakthrough at Delhi Metro’s Nehru Enclave and 8 more are pending.
• 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 now 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 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