Delhi Metro update

The Delhi Metro will be opening sections of the Phase III network over the next three years, with the entire network becoming operational in 2016.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) chief Mangu Singh said, “The new corridors will be opened in sections, while the extensions — to the Jehangirpuri and Badarpur lines — are expected to start operations by 2015.” The first stretch to become operational will be the Central Secretariat to Mandi House section. It will be commissioned in March 2014.
The other two extensions — to Badli and Ballabhgarh — will be commissioned by 2015, Singh said. While the Jehangirpuri-HUDA City Centre corridor will be extended by another 5 km to Badli by adding three stations, the Central Secretariat-Badarpur corridor will be extended to Faridabad and to Ballabhgarh by adding two more stations, an addition of 3.5 km. These extensions will approximately be commissioned by March and May 2015 respectively.
Regarding the tentative timeline for Mukundpur to Shiv Vihar and Janakpuri (west) to Botanical Garden, Singh said that the official deadline for commissioning these corridors was 2016. For example, the Mukundpur-Shiv Vihar corridor has been broken into 4 sections — Maujpur to Indrapratha Extension, IP Extension to Nizammudin, Nizammudin to Dhaula Kuan and then, Dhaula Kuan to Mukundpur.
On the Janakpuri (west) to Botanical Garden corridor, the sections are divided into Kalindi Kunj to Ishwar Nagar, Ishwar Nagar to RK Puram, RK Puram to Indira Gandhi Airport, IGI to Janakpuri (west). “Usually, the sections near depots open first as the trains can easily run from depots to nearby stations,” said Singh. Both Mukundpur and the IP Extension have depots nearby — at Mukundpur and Vinod Nagar — and these are expected to become operational before the others, he added. In line 8 (Janakpuri to Botanical Garden), the depot will be in Kalindi Kunj.
According to Singh, elevated sections are likely to be finished earlier as work is faster on those sections. “Underground sections take longer to construct,” added Singh. A significant part of the two new corridors, especially line 8, is underground. In Phase III, DMRC will have underground corridors of 53 km with 34 underground stations spread across the three corridors – Mukundpur-Shiv Vihar, Janakpuri-Botanical Garden and Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate.