Proposal for Metro to link Central Vista, North Block

The government will connect new Central Vista buildings to the Delhi Metro, replacing moving walkways to improve public access and reduce traffic.

The Union government will connect buildings in the upcoming Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings, North Block, and other facets of the Central Vista project with the Delhi Metro network, people aware of the matter said on Tuesday.

Proposal for Metro to link Central Vista, North Block

Earlier, a proposal was floated to install moving walkways to connect the buildings, but that plan has now been scrapped, the people said.

A senior official with the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs said the change in plan is to avoid the waste of public money on exclusive infrastructure.

“This is in line with the Rajpath revamp project, by which 100 acre of land has been given back as quality public space. Today 50,000 people come to Kartavya Path daily, and even more on weekends. We will make a similar transformation from C-Hexagon to the Yamuna,” the official said.

This decision comes after considering multiple options amid delays and changes in the execution of the remaining Central Vista projects. As of date, the new Parliament building, vice-president’s residence, and Kartavya Path have been completed.

The official quoted above said that under the fresh proposal, a 6km underground stretch of the Metro will be built to connect the buildings. This move, they said, will reduce vehicular traffic and increase public access in the entire Central Vista area, starting from India Gate to North Block, where the Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum will be set up.

The extra 6km stretch of the Metro will likely be part of the extension of the Green Line (Inderlok to Indraprastha), which will be under the phase 4 expansion of the DMRC network.

“The exact alignment is getting finalised based on security considerations,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.

The construction of the first three new central secretariat buildings as part of the Central Vista project is expected to finish more than a year later than its original scheduled completion date, the government admitted in Parliament on Monday.