Metro-lite plan for Red Line extension junked, says DMRC

DMRC MD Vikas Kumar said Metro-lite was initially planned for the area as they were projected to have a limited ridership, but it has been revised in the light of the Delhi government’s plans to create a transit-oriented hub in Narela.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) plans to run three- or four-coach trains on the stations to be built on the Rithala to Narela-Bawana extension of the Red Line under the Phase-4 expansion of the mass transit system in Delhi, officials aware of the development said on Tuesday.

File image of Delhi metro.

Earlier, the DMRC planned to run ‘Metro lite’ — sleeker, tram-like trains with tracks on the road level — on the 22-km-long extension where stations will be smaller than the normal ones, and cannot accommodate the normal coach-length trains. Now, the DMRC has dropped the Metro-lite corridor plan, according to a fresh proposal submitted to the Centre, the officials said.

DMRC MD Vikas Kumar said Metro-lite was initially planned for the area as they were projected to have a limited ridership, but it has been revised in the light of the Delhi government’s plans to create a transit-oriented hub in Narela. “Based on the Delhi government’s feedback, we decided not to use Metro-lite, which is sleeker, similar to a tram, with tracks at grade (on the road level). It is preferable in areas where the ridership is low,” he said.

According to the revised proposal, the stations on the extended corridor may later be expanded to accommodate six-eight coach Metro trains. “Based on the projected demand, we expect three-coach trains to be run initially, but if required, these platforms can be expanded for trains with more coaches,” he said.

DMRC says for the three approved corridors under phase-4, construction work was going on, with the Janakpuri West to RK Ashram section (28.9km), Aerocity to Tughlakabad (20.2km) and the Maujpur to Majlis Park (12.5km) at an overall completion of 23.55% so far. While the Majlis-Park to Maujpur section is likely to keep its deadline of November, 2024, the other two sections are likely to see a revision in its deadline of December 2024, owing to delays due to Covid-19.

“The Aerocity to Tughlakabad corridor is 12.37% complete, Janakpuri to RK Ashram is 32.40 percent complete and the Maujpur to Majlis Park corridor is 26.96 percent complete so far,” a DMRC official said.

A total of 27 elevated stations are being built as part of Phase-4. A total of 45 new stations will be constructed once the other corridors receive Centre’s as well. Delhi Metro currently operates a network of 391 kilometres with 286 stations.