The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Sunday announced it will operate India’s first three-coach train corridor on the upcoming Lajpat Nagar to Saket-G Block line — a route that has received approval from the Central and state governments under the Metro phase four expansion project, but work on which is yet to begin.
The corridor — an extended spur of the under-construction Golden Line (Aerocity to Tughlakabad) — is set to be around 8 km in length and will have eight stations. DMRC earlier operated four-coach, six-coach, and eight-coach trains. However, the decision to have much smaller, three-coach trains is to cater specifically to short-distance urban travel. The corridor is expected to be completed by March 2029.
DMRC principal executive director of corporate communications Anuj Dayal said the decision for three-coach trains was taken based on a realistic assessment of the passenger flow in mind.
“The smaller train configuration will provide a cost-effective and agile solution, ensuring better frequency and operational efficiency while accommodating a substantial number of daily commuters. This corridor is not just about reducing train length—it’s about optimising urban mobility with a future-ready, efficient, and cost-conscious metro system,” he said.
To be sure, the Golden Line spur will be unlike the Blue Line, which has also two spurs. In the Blue Line, trains either go towards Noida Electronic City or towards Vaishali. However, on the Golden Line, officials said, the three-coach trains will operate on a loop from Lajpat Nagar to Saket G-Block, while on the rest of the line, conventional six- or eight-coach trains will operate.
“Commuters will be able to interchange at Saket G-Block,” said a DMRC official, adding that this spur will be partially elevated and partially underground.
A three-coach train can carry around 900 passengers per trip. DMRC said the projected ridership is expected to be touch 120,000 passengers by 2041.
“The corridor’s peak hour peak direction traffic (PHPDT) estimates indicate a manageable load, ensuring a comfortable travel experience without unnecessary overcapacity. Shorter trains mean quicker turnaround times, allowing for a highly efficient frequency cycle,” Dayal said, adding that the stations designed for this line will also be shorter in length at 74 metres. In comparison, the average length of an elevated station on a standard gauge six coach train is 140 metres.
The eight stations on the upcoming line are Lajpat Nagar (which will become a triple interchange station with the Pink and Violet lines), Andrews Ganj, GK-1, Chirag Dilli (an interchange station with the Magenta Line), Pushpa Bhawan, Saket Court, Pushpa Vihar, and Saket G-Block, which will also be an interchange station with the under-construction Golden Line (Tughlakabad – Aerocity), DMRC said.
As part of its phase 4 expansion, DMRC is constructing around 103 km of new Metro lines across six corridors, with three — the Magenta Line extension (Janakpuri West to RK Ashram), the Pink Line extension (Majlis Park to Maujpur), and the new Golden Line (Aerocity to Tughlakabad) already under construction. The Pink Line extension is expected to be completed by the end of this year, officials said.
On April 4, DMRC had said that it had received the first tranche of a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) of ₹4309.53 crore, which will allow the tendering work for the three remaining phase four corridors — Inderlok to Indraprastha, Saket G-Block to Lajpat Nagar, and Rithala to Narela to Nathupur — to gather pace.
