August 1, 2017 TnH Global

In big growth push, Delhi Metro to have 45% more trains from March

The Delhi Metro is on the verge of a major expansion with its Phase 3 project nearing completion. By next March, not only will the network expand from 218 km to 348 km, the number of trains will also go up by 45%, from 227 trains at present to 328. Starting this October, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will start commissioning in phases two of its upcoming corridors — Magenta Line (Janakpuri West-Botanical Garden) and Pink Line (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar).

Both lines are expected to be completely operational by March 2018. Currently, DMRC runs 227 trains, including four, six and eight-coach rakes. With the completion of Phase 3, the number of trains will go up to 328. The number of coaches will also rise to 2,158 from 1,468.

While 504 of the 690 new coaches will be used for the Magenta and Pink Lines, the number of trains in the existing corridors will also be increased from 227 to 244 — most of them eight-coach ones — to tackle the ever-increasing passenger rush. Also, six-coach trains will be converted into eight-coach ones to accommodate more people in a train. The Blue Line (Dwarka Sector 21-Noida City Centre/Vaishali) is the network’s busiest line and will soon be allocated the most number of trains.

The number of eight-coach trains in this line will go up from 56 to 65. The number of eight-coach trains on the second busiest corridor, the Yellow Line (Samaypur Badli–HUDA City Centre), will be increased to 52 from 38. The Pink and Magenta Lines, along with the newly opened Violet Line (Kashmere Gate-Escorts Mujesar), however, will have only six-coach trains as the footfall on these corridors is lesser compared with the Blue and Yellow Lines.

The Red Line (Dilshad Garden-Rithala), DMRC’s first operational corridor, will see its mostly four-coach trains converted into six-coach ones. From 10 six-coach trains, the number will go up to 39 soon. Along with more trains, DMRC will also deploy additional manpower. It will reportedly add 3,000 staffers, including train operators, station controllers and customer care executives, to the existing 9,000.