Work on Pink, Magenta lines completed by 80-85 pc: DMRC

New Delhi, Mar 7: Work on the upcoming Pink and Magenta Lines of Delhi Metro, that will cover areas spread across the national capital with over 60 stations, has been completed by 80 and 85 per cent respectively, according to latest DMRC data.

The 58.6-km long Pink Line, once made operational, would be the longest corridor of the rapidly expanding metro grid, touching portions of the inner-ring road and connecting areas such as Mayur Vihar to South Extension.

"Progress of civil works upto January 2016 is 80.23 per cent. The line, between Mukundpur and Shiv Vihar, is targeted for completion in December 2016," as per DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation). The line will have 38 stations.

Another major line, christened Magenta, as part of the Phase III project, will measure 34-km and connect Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden, Noida.

There, progress of civil works upto January 2016 is 84.63 per cent with the completion target of December 2016, as per work status till January.

The line will directly connect domestic section of the IGI Airport to south Delhi areas and even Noida. With 23 stations, it will also have inter-change facilities to the already operational Blue, Yellow and Violet lines.

Metro has set October as target to launch its much-awaited 'heritage corridor' that will extend between Central Secretariat and Kashmere Gate bringing historic sites such as Red Fort and Jama Masjid into its operational fold.

"Progress of civil works upto January 2016 on the 9-km long line is 92.35 per cent and is targeted for completion in September 2016," a metro spokesperson said. It was to be ready by December 2015.

Work on the upcoming Dwarka-Najafgarh and the Mundka-Bahadurgarh sections has progressed to 55 and 66 per cent respectively.

They are also targeted for completion in December this year. While there will be three stations in the 4.3-km long Dwarka-Najafgarh, an extension of the Blue Line, the Mundka- Bahadurgarh section, an extension of the Green Line, will have seven stations.

The crisscrossing of the new lines with the existing corridors at many places will take the number of inter-change stations to 27, thus shortening the distance between two different parts of the city by upto 15 km at some places.

Metro was extended to Samaypur Badli on the city's north and till the busy office hub of ITO in the heart of the capital last year. Ridership had touched a record high of 32.05 lakh on August 28, 2015.

PTI