New Delhi: With the opening of the Shiv Vihar–Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake section of Pink Line on Wednesday, Delhi Metro will join the league of top metro networks around the world that have an operational length of over 300 km, a senior DMRC official said Monday.



"With this, Delhi Metro joins the league of top metro systems around the world, like metros in London, Beijing, Shanghai, New York," Executive Director, Corporate Communications, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Anuj Dayal told reporters.

The 17.86 km-long Shiv Vihar–Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake section will be formally flagged off for public operations by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

The highlight of this section will be the presence of three interchange stations – Welcome (with Red Line), Anand Vihar and Karkardooma (both with Blue Line).

After this inauguration, DMRC will have opened over 80 km of new lines this year.

All major corridors under Delhi Metro's Phase-III, including the Pink Line's Lajpat Nagar–Mayur Vihar Pocket I section, are expected to be opened for the public by the end of the year, officials said.

"The beginning of operations on this section will lead to reduction of fares on multiple routes in the network. For example, for commuters traveling from Dilshad Garden to Vaishali, Kaushambi, Anand Vihar, Karkarduma, Preet Vihar and Nirman Vihar, there will be a reduction of Rs 20 on per trip. Similarly, there will be reduction in fares for many of these stations from Shahdara and Welcome as well," an official added.

Dayal said, "Delhi Metro has achieved a rare feat in construction by crossing over its existing operational line (Blue Line) at the Karkardooma Metro station (old one) at a record height of 21 m above the ground, making it the second highest structure in the network."

"A total of 14 trains will be kept in time table on weekdays during peak hours. Moreover, services between Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake to IP Extension section (having two intermediate stations at East Vinod Nagar Mayur Vihar-II and West Vinod Nagar) will be run on single line at a frequency of 15 minutes 36 seconds," a DMRC statement said.

"This is necessitated as Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake is not planned as a terminal or interlocking station which generally have crossovers for trains to change the tracks. Therefore, in the absence of a crossover for trains to turn back after terminating at this station, they can only be run on single line to provide the service in this section," the statement added.

However, services between IP Extension–Shiv Vihar section will run as per normal practice on both lines at peak hour frequency of five minutes 12 second, it added.

Services at Trilokpuri Sanjay Lake–Shiv Vihar section will start at 6.15 am from Trilokpuri and 6.00 am from IP Extension and Shiv Vihar from Monday to Saturday. The same will commence from 8.15 am from Trilokpuri and at 8.00 am from IP Extension and Shiv Vihar on Sundays.