Delhi Metro’s Golden Line corridor reaches key tunneling milestone

Once complete, it is expected to bolster east-west connectivity in South Delhi and provide a seamless interchange with the Violet Line at Tughlakabad

Published on: Jun 8, 2025, 05:32:06 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

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The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Friday completed a significant tunnelling milestone on the Aerocity–Tughlakabad corridor—also known as the Golden Line—after a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) broke through at Tughlakabad Railway Colony station. The breakthrough marked the completion of a 792-metre-long underground tunnel stretch excavated from Maa Anandmayee Marg, officials said.

The tunnel, built at an average depth of 18 metres, is part of the 19.3-kilometre underground alignment of the corridor, which spans 23.6 kilometres in total. Once complete, it is expected to bolster east-west connectivity in South Delhi and provide a seamless interchange with the Violet Line at Tughlakabad.

The event was attended by Delhi’s health and transport minister Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh, DMRC managing director Dr Vikas Kumar, and other senior officials. A parallel tunnel for the up and down movement is expected to be completed by July 2026.

“This breakthrough is not just a technical achievement but a symbol of renewed momentum,” said Singh. “What was once stalled is now moving at full speed. Today’s event serves both as an inspection and a celebration. Going forward, we will further accelerate metro expansion and ensure that Delhi’s citizens receive the quality infrastructure and services they truly deserve,” minister Singh added.

The Aerocity–Tughlakabad stretch forms one of three corridors under construction as part of DMRC’s Phase-4 expansion. The other two include the Janakpuri West–RK Ashram extension of the Magenta Line and the Majlis Park–Maujpur extension of the Pink Line, officials said. While the Pink Line extension is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, the Golden Line and Magenta Line corridors are scheduled for completion by mid-2026.

Anuj Dayal, principal executive director of corporate communications at DMRC, said that ground movement during excavation was carefully monitored using precision instruments fixed to nearby buildings to avoid any structural disturbances or surface settlement.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok
Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More

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