The connecting link between Mayur Vihar Pocket-1 and Trilokpuri - Sanjay Lake Metro stations of Pink Line was inaugurated today by the Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Sh. Hardeep Singh Puri and the Chief Minister of Delhi, Sh. Arvind Kejriwal,via video conferencing. With the opening of this important connection, the 59 kilometre long Pink Line will seamlessly connect the northern and eastern fringes of Delhi with important markets, hospitals, transport hubs and prominent residential areas of south and central Delhi. With the opening of this section, the Delhi Metro network will now become about 390 kilometres long with 285 stations (including the Noida – Greater Noida Metro Corridor and Rapid Metro, Gurugram).            

            Transport Minister of Delhi Shri Kailash Gehlot, Secretary, Housing & Urban Affairs, Shri Durga Shanker Mishra and MD, Metro, Shri Mangu Singh were also present on the occasion.

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Sh. Hardeep Singh Puri speaking on the occasion said that the metro rail system has delivered a world class transportation system to our citizens.  Delhi Metro has been a trailblazer, in that sense.  It is not easy to plan and execute a massive infrastructure project like the Delhi Metro system, he added.

The Minister said that under the visionary and dynamic leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the Metro system in the country has seen massive surge in the expansion of the network. The Minister explained that the inauguration of today’s 850.8 metres stretch extension might be small from the point of view of network length, but from the perspective of providing enhanced connectivity to people, this connection will play an extremely crucial role. The missing link in Trilokpuri is now being bridged to allow seamless and end to end travel through Delhi Metro’s longest corridor of 59 kilometers between Majlis Park and Shiv Vihar.

Shri Puri said that presently 721 km of Metro network is operational in 18 cities and further, construction work is presently undergoing on 1,058 km route length of new Metro network in 27 cities. The Delhi Metro is also working extensively on further improving last mile connectivity from its stations through the use of non-polluting motorized as well as non-motorized modes of travel. A number of stations have been connected with state-of-the-art GPS enabled E-Rickshaws and a new fleet of e-buses have also been procured by DMRC, which shall soon be pressed into service, he added.

The Minister said that last year, two vital landmarks in the Metro rail history of the nation were achieved with the operationalization of the first ever driverless Metro train and the implementation of the National Common Mobility Card facility on the Airport Express Line of the Delhi Metro. Both these achievements were vital from the perspective of technological upgradation of the mass transport infrastructure.

The Minister mentioned that DMRC’s fourth phase of expansion comprising of three lines covering approximately 62 kilometres is also gradually taking shape with construction work in full swing. Along with the construction of the Rapid Rail Transit in NCR, DMRC’s Phase 4 will significantly make commuting easier for residents.

Secretary, Housing & Urban Affairs, Shri Durga ShankerMishra addressing the event said that DMRC network is expected to complete 458 km within 3-4 four years. Speaking about the Metro ridership he said that metro ridership which  peaked to  around 65 lakh daily before Covid-19 pandemic will hopefully achieve the target of 75 lakh per day. He said that with the 96 kms becoming the driverless stretch, Delhi Metro will become the longest driverless stretch in the world.

 

Details Of Mayur Vihar Pocket – 1 To Trilokpuri Section

The construction happened on the missing link of a 290 metres between Trilokpuri – Sanjay Lake and Mayur Vihar Pocket 1 stations of the Pink Line.

Important transport hubs such as Nizamuddin Railway Station, Sarai Kale Khan ISBT, Anand Vihar Railway Station, Anand Vihar ISBT, Delhi Cantt. Railway Station, and prominent markets like Dilli Haat - INA, Sarojini Nagar and Lajpat Nagar will get direct connectivity through this corridor.

This corridor will further be extended from Majlis Park to Maujpur in Phase – IV, making it the longest single Metro corridor in India at approximately 70 kilometers. After completion of Phase – IV, the Pink Line will also become the only Ring Corridor of Metro in the country.

The construction of this stretch was a challenging task for DMRC as the work was repeatedly hampered by the pandemic induced lockdowns and issues such as non-availability of workforce. Completion of this work was a significant achievement because the civil construction on this stretch continued despite the hurdles and concluded within the set deadline.

DMRC is also developing an internal road below the viaduct at Trilokpuri which will connect the Vasundhara Road and Trilokpuri Road. The road will be 140 metres in length. This will help in decongesting the area and will ease the traffic scenario.

While the presently operational sections of the Pink Line were made functional in 2019, this small stretch got delayed due to the unavailability of encumbrance free land. After following the due process of law, the land was acquired and R&R (Rehabilitation and Resettlement) of Project Affected Persons was done for commencement and completion of construction work. Partial access was available in October 2019 and full access in December 2020.

Special features

To expedite the work and due to unavailability of space for casting yard near the site, a unique construction method was adopted by using steel girders instead of the conventional concrete ones. A total of 40 steel girders have been placed on 10 spans. These steel girders have been fabricated and brought from a workshop at Ambala in Haryana. The length of these girders varies from 16 to 38 metres. The height of the viaduct stands at about 8 to 9.5 metres. A curved span of radius 200 metres is also a part of this stretch. This has helped in completion of the work in record time of less than one year.

Train Operation Plan

After the connectivity of stretch from Mayur Vihar Pocket-1 to Trilokpuri-Sanjay Lake stations, train services on entire Pink Line (Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar) will be available as per the following operational plan:-

1. Train services from Majlis Park to Sarai Kale Khan Nizamuddin and Shiv Vihar to IP Extn sections will be available with a frequency of 5 min 12 sec, with 43 trains including standby trains during peak hours.

 

2. Services from Sarai Kale Khan Nizamuddin to IP Extn section will be available with a frequency of 10 min 24 sec with every alternate/2^nd train going from Nizamuddin towards IP Extn and viceversa.

 

3. Trains will be run with a temporary speed restriction of 25 KMPH between Mayur Vihar Pocket-1 and Trilokpuri-Sanjay Lake stations (around 1.5 KM distance) due to non-availability of automated signaling system in this stretch which is still under commissioning.

 

4. The integration of the signaling system of this particular stretch in an already operational line is a challenging task and it is expected to get the system commissioned in about the next two months time. Thereafter, trains will move with regular speed on this stretch too, eliminating the need of speed restriction.

 

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