New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on Thursday started the construction of the Inderlok–Indraprastha corridor, which is an extension of the Magenta Line.The construction of the diaphragm wall at the Sarai Rohilla metro station site kicked off the work.Chief minister Rekha Gupta, who started off the construction, said the network’s expansion is a major step towards a cleaner Delhi. “As more people shift to public transport, dependence on private vehicles will reduce, leading to less congestion, lower fuel consumption and reduced carbon emissions. This will improve Delhi’s air quality, while strengthening environmental protection,” she said.The proposed Sarai Rohilla station is one of the key points on the Inderlok–Indraprastha corridor. The station is in the heart of central Delhi and has several educational institutes, a cinema hall, the Karol Bagh market and Desh Bandhu Gupta Road close by.The 12.4-km Inderlok–Indraprastha corridor will be a fully underground corridor with 10 stations. It will also be completely driverless. “The Magenta Line (Line-8) is set to emerge as the longest metro corridor, featuring the highest number of interchange stations and underground stations, thereby enhancing cross-city and NCR connectivity,” said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications, DMRC.The route provides interchange facilities to seven lines. These are the Green and Red Lines at Inderlok, the Magenta Line at Nabi Karim, the Yellow and Orange Lines at New Delhi station, the Violet Line at Delhi Gate and the Blue Line at Indraprastha.The corridor will strengthen connectivity to Sarai Rohilla railway station, New Delhi railway station, Delhi Sachivalaya, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Jhandewalan Mandir, India Gate, Kartavya Path and the Central Vista.TOI earlier reported that the extension will also make the Magenta Line the longest corridor in the network, extending about 89 kilometres from Botanical Garden to Inderlok.“Construction work on the priority corridor from Janakpuri West–RK Asharm Marg is already on, out of which Janakpuri West to Krishna Park Extn of 1.8 km and Deepali Chowk to Majlis Park of 9.9 km are already operational,” said Dayal.
