delhi

Updated: Mar 14, 2018 19:12 IST

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday his government would soon clear the Delhi Metro’s long-pending Phase-IV project, while indicating that there were “issues of financial viability” on some of its routes.

Kejriwal said this in the presence of Union minister for housing and urban affairs (independent charge) Hardeep Singh Puri, along with whom, he ceremonially flagged off the Majlis Park-Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus section of the much-awaited Pink Line, from the Metro Bhawan here.

“Metro is the lifeline of Delhi, and it is an important mode of transport for the city. The Delhi government will soon give clearance for the Phase-IV project. There are issues of financial viability on some of the routes,” the chief minister said.

On the last fare hike, Kejriwal said the Delhi government and the Centre should “sit together and find out a solution”.

The newly-opened section, which has 12 stations, is part of the 59 km-long Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor (Pink Line - Line 7) of Delhi Metro’s Phase-III.

A small segment of the Pink Line in the Trilokpuri area in east Delhi is also awaiting clearance due to some land issues and other related matters associated with the local people.

On the Delhi Metro’s Phase IV project and rapid rail system connecting the national capital with Meerut, Puri had recently said that the AAP-led city government was “sitting on the project”.

“We are finding a solution. The solution is where we are not getting support from the Delhi government over the metro projects, we have decided that we we will do it ourselves. Rail corridors, we will do on our own.

“If they (Delhi government) are not willing to approve a project or provide funding, we are finding out a solution for it,” the urban affairs minister had said.

Last year, Puri had reportedly said the delay had pushed the cost of Metro’s Phase-IV by Rs 12,000 crore, adding that, the cost of the Delhi-Meerut Rapid Rail Transit project had also gone up by Rs 1,000 crore.

Incidentally, an official at the chief minister’s office had then said that the Delhi government had given in-principle approval to the Phase-IV metro project, but the files were pending with bureaucrats in the Delhi government’s finance department.

Bird’s eye view

The newly-opened stretch of the Pink Line took both the Delhi Metro and its riders to dizzying heights, giving passengers a bird’s eye view of the sprawling city from a vantage point as high as the top of a seven-storeyed building.

Rising at 23.6 m in busy Dhaula Kaun area, this is the highest point in the 252-km-long network of the mass rapid transit system that has shrunk distances and connected heart of the city to nondescript locations.

“We have reached the highest point in our network, it is an accomplishment and a moment of joy for us. But, it will also be a moment of thrill for riders, as they will get a panoramic view of the city from a towering elevation,” a senior DMRC official said.

Incidentally, out of the 12 stations on the stretch, eight are elevated and the rest underground. As with the recently-opened Magenta Line, broad-sized coaches from the new rolling stock, will ply on the standard gauge Pink line.

The end-to-end travel time of Majlis Park-Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus stretch is 34 minutes and will cost Rs 40.

The stations falling on the operational stretch are -- Majlis Park, Azadpur, Shalimar Bagh, Netaji Subhash Place, Shakurpur, Punjabi Bagh West, ESI Hospital, Rajouri Garden, Mayapuri, Naraina Vihar, Delhi Cantt and Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus.

Azadpur Station (with Yellow Line) is one of the three interchange stations on the Pink Line stretch that opened today, the other two being, Netaji Subhash Place (with Red Line) and Rajouri Garden (Blue Line).