5.4 km section of Delhi Metro phase III still remains unfinished

Delhi (Metro Rail News): The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Phase-III project is over, a small section still remains unfinished and It will be completed by October 2019.

Although the first section of the 5.4km Grey Line of Delhi Metro under phase III, between Dwarka and Dhansa Stand, is scheduled to open in September 2019, the extension of this corridor to Dhansa Stand will only be completed by October 2019

The Delhi Metro network, after the completion of Phase III, stands at 343 kms with 251 stations. Excluding the Noida-Greater Noida section, which too was built by DMRC.

“The Grey Line was not part of the original Phase III project and was added much later,” a DMRC official explained.

The 4.2 km long Grey line of Delhi Metro connect Dwarka to Najafgarh out of which 2.7 km is elevated while the rest underground. There are a total of three stations on this stretch, Dwarka and Nangli are elevated while Najafgarh is an underground station.

“The progress of civil works on this section is over 93%,” a DMRC spokesperson said. “The line is targeted for completion by September 2019,” he added

In sync with most of the new corridors constructed by the DMRC, Grey Line, too, will have standard gauge tracks. Work on this corridor started in October 2017 when the Letter of Acceptance was awarded.

While the Dwarka-Najafgarh section will open to public first, the next section to be opened will be the corridors extension to Dhansa Stand, which is expected to be 1.2km in length and will be an entirely underground section. Dhansa Stand is the only station on this stretch

DMRC used two different methods For the construction of the underground corridor from Najafgarh to Dhansa stand, While 700 metres of the tunnel is being constructed by using the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), the remaining 290 metres will be constructed by the cut-and-cover method. Excavation work for the stretch where the cut-and-cover method will be used is expected to begin soon.

“Lowering of the Tunnel Boring Machine on the up line was done in January 2019. The tunneling work on both the up and down line is expected to be completed by October 2019. Over a hundred rings have already been installed as part of the tunneling work,” DMRC spokesperson said.

DMRC faced Heavy traffic on the stretch between Najafgarh and Dhansa Stand was a major challenge while carrying out the construction work, He added.

According to sources, the two primary reasons behind the project getting delayed were land acquisition and carrying out construction work in densely populated areas.

The Dwarka to Najafgarh section of Delhi Metro was first approved in May 2017 and work on the section was expected to be completed by April 2019, which was later revised to June 2019.

“In fact, the area between Najafgarh and Dhansa is so densely populated that a decision was later taken to make the stretch underground,” a DMRC official said.