Trial runs of Badarpur line in next month

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Thursday announced that the trial runs of the Central Secretariat- Badarpur Standard Gauge line will begin in the first week of July from Central Secretariat to Lajpat Nagar. "This 22 kilometer corridor connecting Central Secretariat with Badarpur, which is close to Haryana, is scheduled to open by September, a month before the Commonwealth Games," says a DMRC official.
This corridor is significant as it would provide easy connectivity to three of the Commonwealth Games venues including Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (near the JLN Stadium Metro station), National Stadium (near the Central Secretariat Metro station) and Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range (near Tughlakabad Metro station).
The new underground station being constructed will be linked to the existing Central Secretariat station, which is a broad gauge network, and will act as a point for passenger interchange once the Badarpur corridor opens. Currently, it is a terminal station.
"The existing station is being integrated with the new one by cutting the walls of the existing functional station and amalgamating with the new one, providing access between the concourse and the platform levels of the two stations," Kumar Keshav, Director (Project&Planning), DMRC, said.
Simply put, once the Bararpur line commences, the Central Secretariat station will be one and passengers of both Line 2 (Jehangirpuri-HUDA City Centre) and Line 6 (Central Secretariat-Badarpur) can change trains without having to get out of the station or even the platform.
Briefing journalists at the station, where almost 700 people were racing against time to finish the work, Kumar said it was a very difficult and challenging task for the engineers as they had to evacuate tunnels at a depth of 17 metres that runs through the Lutyen's Zone. "It is even more challenging that the new station was built without disturbing the existing one and the train operations. Even the road traffic on the busy Rail Bhawan road was not disturbed," he said.
DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said once the new station gets ready, the Central Secretariat station will be the only one in the world where two different gauges - broad and standard - will be operational.
Engineers at the site said a total of 35 metres length of the main wall of the operating station was cut and designers had projected that 10,5000 kg of load has to be supported when the wall is being cut.
They said the wall was being checked everyday thrice at the station and utmost care was taken not to disturb the people and traffic.
According to the DMRC official, "Six new standard-gauge trains have already arrived at the Sarita Vihar Depot located on this line. All six trains are being assembled at the depot and would undergo testing on the main line for load and braking."
"A total of 25 trains - each of four coaches have been planned for use on the Central Secretariat-Badarpur corridor. Initially, these will cater to an expected traffic of about 3.6 lakh passengers per day by 2011," added the official.