Barakhamba-Indraprastha Metro to be tested soon

New Delhi, Oct 8: The stage is set for trials to begin, later this month on the much-awaited Barakhamba-Indraprastha extension of the line three of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Construction work on the 2.8 Km stretch, which will consist of three stations- Mandi house, Pragati Maidan and Indraprastha Extension, is nearly complete and trials on the section will begin later this month, a spokesperson for the DMRC told UNI.

''Major civil, electrical, signalling and telecommunication work on the section is nearly complete and finishing touches are being given to it. Trials on the stretch will begin in the next 15 to 20 days and the section will be opened to the public well before the start of the India International Trade Fair after an inspection by the Commissioner for Railway Safety,'' the spokesperson said.

Opening of the section has been delayed by nearly a month largely due to the extra time required for the construction of the of the "extra dozed bridge" to connect the metro network between Pragati Maidan and I P estate.

Work on the bridge, the second of its kind being made over a railway crossing for MRTS the first having been already built in Japan, has been completed, what remains is electical works on the tracks.

A considerable amount of time went into the construction of the "extra dozed bridge", which pushed back the opening date of the section by more a month, from September to October end.

What made construction on the stretch difficult than those on other stretches having railway crossings in between was the fact that the railway crossing at Pragati maidan was a heavily busy one with all important trains going towards Mumbai and Eastern India passing through it. This made it almost impossible to block the route even for a single day to facilitate construction of the metro bridge.

''About 200 trains, including all important trains going towards Western and Eastern India, pass on the track below the bridge eevryday. Because of this, the train movement could not be stopped even for a single day and no pier could be put in between the train tracks. In addition, the bridge has a 302 m radius curvature as required by the alignment. Also, the main span was kept long to allow for future expansion of the Indian railway lines,''the spokesperson said.

This is only the second bridge of its kind being made over a railway crossing for MRTS, the first having been already built in Japan.

About ten engineers of DMRC and over 230 workers were involved in the construction wich was done under trying circumstances like taking care not to disturb overhead electricity lines of the Railways.

The design of the bridge was done by French consultant Systra and independently checked by DMRC. The cost of the bridge, including the design, is about Rs 6.5 crore.

While the stretch will be underground from Barakhamba to Mandi house, that between Pragati Maidan and I P Estate will be elevated. From Mandi house, the line will emerge from under the ground on a ramp.

Mr Dayal said the section was being commissioned in 26 months only whereas underground sections take 48 months and elevated sections need 36 months at least usually.

The starting of the stretch would facilitate lakhs of office goers from East Delhi areas who commute daily to their offices in and around Connaught Place.

UNI