"The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) today (Friday) took a major step towards operationalising its Phase-IV corridors for passenger operations by signing the contract for procuring 312 metro coaches (52 trains) for Phase IV's priority corridors," the DMRC said in a statement.

Work on the Phase IV corridor began in December 2019 with a groundbreaking ceremony but construction was hit following the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020. "Small sections of both Line 7 (Pink) and Line 8 (Magenta), which are being built as part of Phase-IV priority corridors, would probably be operational in a year's time from now or by March 2023," then DMRC chief Mangu Singh had told PTI on March 31.

On Friday, the DMRC said it would procure 234 standard-gauge coaches for the extended sections of Line 7 (Pink) and Line 8 (Magenta) -- Majlis Park to Maujpur and Janakpuri West to RK Ashram Marg corridors, respectively. In addition, 78 standard-gauge coaches will be procured for the Tughlakabad to Delhi Aerocity corridor.

The contract was signed by DMRC Director (Electrical) Om Hari Pande and Alstom Transport India Limited Managing Director Olivier Loison at Metro Bhawan in the presence of DMRC Managing Director Vikas Kumar and other senior officials.

All these trains will be compatible for driverless operations, in line with Delhi Metro's efforts to provide world-class services, and provide a fillip to the Centre's 'Make in India' initiative. These coaches will be manufactured in Alstom Transport India's facility at SriCity near Chennai, the DMRC said.

While the Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg extension of the Magenta Line will get 144 new coaches (24 trains), the Mukundpur-Maujpur extension of the Pink Line will get 90 new coaches (15 trains). The new Silver Line corridor from Aerocity to Tughlakabad will receive 78 coaches (13 trains), it added.

The DMRC is constructing 65.20 km of new lines across three different corridors in the national capital with 46 metro stations as part of the Phase-IV expansion. All corridors under this phase will be completed by September 2025, it added.

The Delhi Metro currently spans a 391-km network with 286 stations, including the Noida–Greater Noida corridor and the Rapid Metro in Gurugram. It operates a fleet of about 350 trains with four, six, and eight coaches on both broad- and standard-gauge lines. The Delhi Metro's trains are among the most advanced in the mass urban transit sector worldwide, it said.?The Delhi Metro commenced driverless operations on the Magenta Line in December 2020. Driverless services have also been started on the Pink Line.

(With PTI inputs)