Delhi Metro completes longest Phase 3 tunnel so far

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation completed the construction of one of the longest tunnels under its Phase 3 project between Lajpat Nagar and South Extension on Thursday.

The breakthrough came at Lajpat Nagar after boring 1,565 metre long tunnel from South Extension, said Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
This tunnel is one of the twin tunnels being constructed for the up and down movement of trains.

“It has a diameter of 5.8 metres for the movement of standard gauge trains,” added DMRC.
The tunnel on the under-construction Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor is the second longest tunnel under the Phase 3 expansion.

The longest tunnelling drive of this phase will be from Nizamuddin to Ashram on the same corridor with a length of 1691 metres.

“During the course of construction of the Lajpat Nagar tunnel, the Tunnel Boring Machine crossed through the thickly populated areas of Kotla and Defence Colony, which required thorough instrumentation and monitoring,” said DMRC.

Maximum depth
The maximum depth of the tunnel in this drive was approx 21 metres in the Defence Colony Area,” it added.

The Lajpat Nagar Metro station is being developed into a major interchange hub where commuters will be able to change trains between the Faridabad-Kashmere Gate corridor (currently operational between Badarpur and ITO) and the Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor of Phase 3.

A 90 metre long foot overbridge will connect the existing elevated station with the new underground facility. More than 54,000 commuters are expected to use the station next year.
The Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar Metro section is a 58.596 km long corridor which will cover most of the localities along the arterial Ring Road of the national capital.

This entirely standard gauge section is expected to be operational by the end of 2016. Some 19.117 km of underground lines with 12 underground stations are being constructed on this corridor.