Amongst criticism from various sources regarding lack of preparation regarding games, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Friday said its Delhi-Noida section will be operational by the end of 2009. This is important as the Games site is close to the NCR city of Noida.
DMRC also confirmed that the remaining sections of the second phase would be completed by next year with the airport line slated for a September opening ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
“The metro on Yamuna Bank to Noida section is likely to start by the first week of December this year. The opening of the section depends on the delivery of trains, which are likely to come by November,” E. Sreedharan, DMRC managing director, told reporters here.
The 13.1 km elevated Yamuna Bank-Noida stretch, with 10 stations, will be an extension of the existing Dwarka Sector 9 to Yamuna Bank section.
Seven trains will be required to open the section which will be made available to the DMRC by the end of November 2009. In the meantime, the DMRC is strengthening 11 cantilever pillars in Noida, on which cracks were observed during safety audits, Sreedharan said.
The DMRC chief was speaking on the occasion of commissioning its new broad gauge train on the Central Secretariat-Jahangirpuri line. Two more new trains by German company Bombardier will be commissioned for the same line in two weeks to ease congestion.
Sreedharan said DMRC’s next priority would be to open the Yamuna Bank-Anand Vihar section by December or January 2010.
Asked about the reason for the delay, Sreedharan said: “Trains were being double checked before delivery so that safety could be ensured.”
This, he said, could be the reason behind some of the delays in opening. “Bombardier has gathered a team of foreign experts to see that the trains are attended and delivered as soon as possible. Of the 83 metro trains procured from the company, 14 have already arrived and the rest will come from the company’s factory near Baroda, Gujarat,” he said.
The much-awaited Noida corridor will be the first metro rail project connecting the NCR. Once operational, it will be the longest line (58 km) of the Delhi metro, directly connecting Dwarka Sector 9 to Noida City Centre in Sector 32.
Adding that the DMRC was “getting ready to open new sections”, Sreedharan said the other line connecting NCR to the Qutub Minar-Gurgaon section would be opened by March 2010.
In addition, work on the Inderlok-Mundka section would be completed by November 2009 and the standard gauge line would be opened by January end or early February 2010.
On the Central Secretariat to Qutub Minar section, station finishing work and fitments were underway and the section would be opened in July 2010, Sreedharan said.
Meanwhile, the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line which was five months behind schedule and suffered a major setback after the July 12 construction site accident would open in August 2010.
Sreedharan also said the last section in phase II - the Airport Express Line - would open in September 2010 and concessionaire Reliance Energy had started installing systems.
The Delhi Metro presently operates three popular lines connecting the northern, central, eastern and southwestern parts of Delhi. Around 950,000 commuters daily use the network, covering a total of 190 km.
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