Delhi Metro’s Tughlakabad line to pass beneath 17 active railway tracks

Delhi Metro lines have passed below railway tracks in the past too, DMRC said the number of tracks -- between Tughlakabad and Tughlakabad Railway Colony stations -- involved in the project is the highest

The upcoming Silver Line, connecting Tughlakabad to Aerocity as part of Delhi Metro’s Phase 4 expansion, will pass under 17 pairs of active railway tracks for which the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has already sought permissions from the Indian Railways, officials said.

The length of the railway tracks crossed by the upcoming Delhi Metro line will be about 110 metres. (Picture for representation only/Sanchit Khanna-HT)

While Delhi Metro lines have passed below railway tracks in the past too, DMRC said the number of tracks -- between Tughlakabad and Tughlakabad Railway Colony stations -- involved in the project is the highest. Officials said the new Metro line will be around 23 metres below the rail level.

“A gap of 15 metres shall be maintained between the railway tracks and the Metro tunnel below. Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) will be pressed into service to carry out the tunnelling in this section. This will be a major engineering challenge since no disruption will be caused to the movement of trains on this section while carrying out the construction work,” said Anuj Dayal, executive director, corporate communication, DMRC.

The length of the railway tracks crossed by the upcoming Delhi Metro line will be about 110 metres, said a Metro official. The railway lines on this stretch are part of the Delhi-Palwal railway route – a fairly busy corridor of the railway network within Delhi.

“Therefore, construction will have to be carried out without causing any disruption to the movement of trains. In order to ensure that the work is executed in a safe manner, adequate instrumentation will be done to monitor the railway tracks on a 24x7 basis. State of the art monitoring equipment such as inclinometers and tiltometers will also be used on this section,” a DMRC spokesperson said.

DMRC officials said they are currently seeking approvals from the Indian Railways, adding that the construction of the priority corridor is expected to be completed by 2025.

A senior Northern Railway official said they have received the proposal and are looking into it. “An official response will be sent to the DMRC once it is finalised,” said the official.

The Aerocity-Tughlakabad corridor will have four elevated and 11 underground stations. The corridor will also have four interchange stations at Aerocity, Chattarpur, Saket and Tughlakabad -- making it one of the most vital corridors of the DMRC network.

“Preliminary mobilisation has been started and preparations are in progress to commence the construction work,” the spokesperson added.

As part of the Delhi Metro Phase-4 expansion, construction work is going on in stretches measuring around 65.1km, including the Magenta Line extension from Janakpuri West to RK Ashram Marg (28.92km), Pink Line extension from Majlis Park to Maujpur (12.55km), and the upcoming Silver Line from Tughalakabad to Aerocity (23.62km). The Silver Line will connect the operational Violet and Airport Lines from their respective ends.