Airport express line to Gurgaon may be scrapped

Gurgaon may not get the much-hyped high-speed airport Metro express after all. Instead of the Rs.1.61-crore Metro extension project, Gurgaon may get a separate corridor connecting it with Dwarka.

Gurgaon may not get the much-hyped high-speed airport Metro express after all. Instead of the Rs.1.61-crore Metro extension project, Gurgaon may get a separate corridor connecting it with Dwarka.

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The Haryana government is quite keen on having high-speed trains on that corridor.

"The new line will have no connection with the airport Metro express," said a Haryana government source.

"As the project involves the Delhi and Central governments, it may take a little longer to finalise the plan. The final route alignment will be sent to the Group of Ministers for approval," said DPS Nangal, chief administrator Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had prepared a detailed project report (DPR) and handed it to HUDA a few months ago. But the latter had returned it, asking the DMRC to rework on it and prepare a fresh DPR for a separate line, sources said.

"We are preparing the final DPR and will give it to the Haryana government soon," said SD Sharma, director (Business Development), DMRC.

Earlier, the extension of the Reliance Infrastructure-run high-speed airport express had been in works for Gurgaon.

Reliance, the concessionaire for the airport Metro express, was reportedly quite hopeful about getting the project as changing the operator would not have been feasible.

But DMRC's unhappiness with the PPP model followed in the airport Metro express line is being cited as the reason behind the cancellation of the line's extension.

DMRC chief Mangu Singh has indicated that the corporation does not want to go for a PPP model again in any of its projects.

"We are not quite happy with the concessionaire of the airport express line. We don't think that PPP was a successful experiment," he had earlier said.

This is the second setback for Reliance Infrastructure, first being the suspension of the services on the 22.7-km-long Airport Metro express line last Sunday after major faults were discovered in its civil structure.