Kalkaji Mandir-Janakpuri West corridor of Delhi Metro's Magenta Line inaugurated

Urban development minister Hardeep Singh Puri assured Delhi residents that phase-IV of the Metro will be completed by the end of the year. Speaking at the inauguration of The Kalkaji Mandir-Janakpuri West corridor of Delhi Metro's Magenta Line on Monday evening, he, however, made it abundantly clear that the Centre will step in if the Delhi government fails to take a final call on the project, "rest assured".

One of the most ambitious projects of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Phase-IV will connect rural parts of the Capital such as Narela, Bawana, Rithala with the city. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also present at the occasion, accompanied by his key aide Somnath Bharti and other party members.

The train was flagged off by Singh and Kejriwal at Nehru Enclave Station at 4:47 pm. The services will open for public from 6 am on Tuesday.

Puri told media persons during the interactive session at the Hauz Khas Metro station after the inaugural run of the train that the Delhi chief minister had assured him to take a final decision on the matter and he was aware the benefits Phase-IV corridor will bring to rural parts of Delhi. He also talked about the plans of his ministry to decongest roads and amendments in the Urban Plan 2020.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal maintained throughout the event that he will decide upon it once it is mooted in the Cabinet, without giving a deadline. He also congratulated the DMRC for the Magenta line which is the longest stretch to be covered.

One of the biggest highlights of this 24.82-km-long stretch is that it will bring domestic terminal of Delhi airport on the DMRC network and reduce travel time between Noida and Gurgaon by at least 30 minutes. With this corridor, the Metro also achieves a total length of 277 km. The highlights of this corridor will be the two new interchange facilities that will come up at Janakpuri West (with the Dwarka Noida/ Vaishali Blue Line) and Hauz Khas (with the Huda City Centre Samaypur Badli Yellow line). The domestic terminals of the Indira Gandhi International Airport will also get directly connected by the Metro. Commuters travelling from Gurugram will now be able to change trains at Hauz Khas to reach south Delhi and Noida.

Connecting four main varsities of the National Capital Region, the Delhi Metro's Magenta Line that will chug through the city's arterial Outer Ring Road is also being touted as the 'knowledge corridor'.