Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal jointly inaugurated the section of about 289 metre between Mayur Vihar Pocket 1 and Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake metro stations.
With this, the 59-km-long Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor or the Pink Line, which spans 38 stations, 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 Kailash Gehlot, Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs, Durga Shanker Mishra and MD, Metro, Mangu Singh were also present on the occasion.
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 Narendra Modi, the metro system in the country has seen massive surge in the expansion of the network.
“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, he said.
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, 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.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal emphasised on the criticality of the stretch that may seem short but caters to very densely populated areas and appreciated the efforts of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in handling their projects during the COVID-crisis.
“It is a moment of great delight for all the people of Delhi that this area of the city where a high volume of population lives is being connected to the metro. Even though the Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake to Mayur Vihar Pocket-1 stretch is very short, it is very critical. I want to congratulate all the people living in this area and throughout Delhi who will now be able to access the route,” he said.
Kejriwal further said, “For the past one and a half years, we all are fighting with the woes of the pandemic. It has been a very tough period for all of us. This period has been especially tough for the DMRC both financially as well as from the point of view of the new projects that they had undertaken. But the DMRC showed great resilience in facing the COVID-crisis and efficiently handled their projects whenever possible. I want to congratulate them for doing so.”
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, a DMRC official said.