With more than 45 per cent civil work completed on three corridors in Phase- IV, Delhi’s metro network is poised for a significant expansion, adding a remarkable 65 kilometers by the year 2026.

Under Phase- IV, the Delhi Metro is adding 65.20 km of new lines across three different corridors in the national capital, with 46 metro stations.

Among these are the 29-kilometer-long Janakpuri West to RK Ashram Marg corridor, seamlessly extending the Magenta Line, and the 12.3-kilometer Majlis Park-Maujpur corridor, which serves as an extension of the Pink Line, stretching from Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar.

Further, the 23.62 km Tughalakabad-Aerocity corridor, that is being built as ‘Golden Line’, will connect the operational Violet Line and Airport Line from the respective ends.

Nearly half of the civil work, approximately 49 percent, has been complted on the Janakpuri West – RK Ashram Marg corridor. While the line is anticipated to commence operations in March 2026, the Delhi Metro is striving to inaugurate a 2-kilometer underground section from Janakpuri West to Krishna Park Extension for service as early as July of this year.

“On this section, tunnelling work has been completed on both sides while work is in final stages at Krishna Park Extension station. Track-laying work is on and the system equipment contractors have also been mobilised,” writes ET, quoting a Delhi Metro official.

Similarly, progress on the Majlis Park-Maujpur corridor has surpassed the halfway mark, with over 50 percent of the work completed and an anticipated completion date set for March 2025.

Meanwhile, approximately 40 per cent of the work has been completed on the Aerocity-Tughlakabad section, projected to conclude by March 2026. Additionally, the Delhi Metro has plans to extend the Tughlakabad-Aerocity line till Delhi Airport Terminal 1D, seamlessly integrating it with the Magenta Line.

Three In Pipeline

The Delhi government approved six metro corridors, measuring 103.9 km as part of Phase IV expansion in December 2018. These included Aerocity to Tughlakabad, Inderlok to Indraprastha, Lajpat Nagar to Saket G Block, Mukundpur to Maujpur, Janakpuri West to R K Ashram, and Rithala to Bawana and Narela.

Out of these, three corridors i.e., Aerocity to Tughlakabad, Majlis Park to Maujpur and Janakpuri West to RK Ashram – categorised as priority corridors, received the approval of the Union Cabinet in March 2019.

The work on phase IV had begun in December 2019 with a ground-breaking ceremony, but it was hit after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 in Delhi.

Providing last-mile connectivity to residents, the corridors proposed but not approved include Rithala – Narela (21.73 km); Inderlok – Indraprastha (12.57 km) and Lajpat Nagar – Saket G-Block (7.96 km).

While the approval for the Inderlok – Indraprastha and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G-Block corridors is currently in advanced stages, the Housing Ministry is collaborating with the Delhi Metro to explore the possibility of extending the Rithala-Narela corridor to reach Kundli in Haryana.