Financial Express | Delhi Metro Pink Line opens on March 14; check details of timings, stations here

Mar 09,2018

Delhi Metro Pink Line to operate next week onwards! The new line will be flagged off by the Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge) Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday, March 14 from Metro Bhawan at 4 PM. The much- awaited Delhi Metro Pink Line, connecting Majlis Park – Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus Metro corridor is 21.56 km long. For commuters, metro services for Delhi Metro Pink Line will begin from 6 PM on the very same day. The new section will cut down travel time between Delhi’s North and South Campus to just 40 minutes!

Initially, Delhi Metro Pink Line will cover 12 metro stations including Azadpur station, Shalimar Bagh station, Netaji Subhash Place station, Shakurpur station, Punjabi Bagh West station, ESI Hospital station, Rajouri Garden station, Mayapuri, Naraina Vihar station, Delhi Cantt metro station. With 8 elevated and 4 underground metro stations, the operating section between Majlis Park – Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus will also include 4 interchange stations – Azadpur, Netaji Subhash Place, Rajouri Garden and Durgabhai Deshmukh South Campus.

The trial and testing of the operating section was successfully completed last month. Apart from this section of the new corridor, the trial and testing of 10.47 km long I.P. Extension- Maujpur section was also done. This particular section will consist of 9 elevated metro stations, including 3 interchange stations namely, Anand Vihar, Karkardooma and Welcome metro stations. According to a DMRC press release, the metro trains for this section have arrived already and at present, the trains are at Vinod Nagar Depot.

The new corridor of Delhi Metro will run Unattended Train Operations (UTO) enabled trains, which have extreme high level automation. The new trains have undergone rigorous training, ensuring smooth functioning to metro commuters, after its launch. Initially, train operators will run the trains, but gradually the trains on UTO mode, will be ready for driverless operations. In addition to UTO enabled trains, Delhi Metro Pink Line will also have a new signalling technology known as Communication Based Train Control (CBTC). Also, train response at different speed levels, braking of the train and interconnection with Operations Control Centre (OCC) were also monitored during the trial period of the new line.

On completion of the Delhi Metro Pink Line project, the new network will connect Majlis Park and Shiv Vihar, both in North Delhi, covering 38 metro stations, including 26 elevated and 12 underground. The new line will mainly cater to Delhi’s Ring Road and will form a circular ring of Metro connectivity. In addition to this, the line will be a boon to all the metro commuters across New Delhi, mainly DU students as it will only take around 40-45 minutes to travel between DU’s North Campus and South Campus.