NEW DELHI: The Centre has prioritised the construction of three new metro rail corridors – R K Ashram to Indraprastha, Aerocity to Terminal-1 and Tughlakabad to Kalindi Kunj – in Delhi, entailing an investment of around Rs 11,150 crore and having a cumulative length of a little over 16 km. These links were recently evaluated by the National Planning Group (NPG) under the PM GatiShakti framework for planning of infrastructure projects and are likely to be placed before the Cabinet soon for approval.Details of the plans presented before the NPG show that R K Ashram to Indraprastha will be the longest among the three corridors and it will be an underground route with nine stations – at Indraprastha, Bharat Mandapam, Baroda House, India Gate (adjacent to C-Hexagon), the newly built Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings along the Kartavya Path, Central Secretariat, Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum (near Rakabganj Gurdwara), Shivaji Stadium and R K Ashram Marg. “So, this will be a complete loop connecting the Green Line (Indralok-Indraprastha link) with the Blue Line, and the Janakpuri West-R K Ashram Marg corridor. This will also help reduce footfall at Rajiv Chowk,” said a source. The proposed station at India Gate will offer visitors a safe and convenient transport alternative, and reduce reliance on private vehicles, officials said.
At present, the nearest metro connectivity is the Central Secretariat metro station and people either need to walk or take auto-rickshaws to reach India Gate.The corridor will also provide faster connectivity to the proposed 10 big central govt office buildings along the Kartavya Path. Two stations on this line at the CCS buildings and the Central Secretariat will ensure govt employees reach office quickly and without any hassle.Earlier, there was a proposal to have an automated people mover system (APMS) to link all the CCS buildings to basements, but it was abandoned as such a transportation system would have been used only by the govt employees. Officials said the extension of the metro line from Aerocity to Terminal-1 (2.3 km) will be completely underground and it will have only one station at Terminal-1. This will provide direct airport connectivity to people living in areas such as Tughlakabad, Khanpur, Saket, Mehrauli and Vasant Kunj. This will enhance airport access and regional transit, especially for commuters from Faridabad via the Tughlakabad interchange. The Tughlakabad-Kalindi Kunj link (4 km) will have three stations and it will be an elevated corridor. It will pass through Ali Village, Ali Vihar, and Madanpur Khadar. The new link will facilitate interchange at Kalindi Kunj with the existing Magenta Line, linking the Violet and Magenta corridors.
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