Construction work on a new section of Central Secretariat Metro station, as part of the Central Vista Metro corridor connecting R K Ashram Marg and Indraprastha under the extension of Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line, commenced on Wednesday. Once complete, it will become a triple interchange station, connecting with the Yellow and Violet Lines.The Central Secretariat station is being developed as part of Metro phase V(A) as an extension of the existing Magenta Line from Janakpuri West to RK Ashram Marg. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)“Today the groundbreaking ceremony was held for work on the corridor with nine stations over 9km. Foundation has been laid for providing a significant facility to the Capital of the country, Central Vista and its employees and all the people working in the offices here. This line will also connect other parts of Delhi, such as RK Ashram Marg and Janakpuri. Lakhs of passengers are going to benefit from this,” Union minister for housing and urban affairs Manohar Lal Khattar said after presiding over the ceremony at Central Secretariat.The 9.913km-corridor has nine underground stations: Shivaji Stadium, Yuge Yugeen Bharat, Central Secretariat, Kartavya Bhawan, India Gate, War Memorial–High Court, Baroda House, Bharat Mandapam, and Indraprastha. “This facility will significantly benefit government employees and commuters accessing the Lutyens’ Zone and surrounding administrative districts,” said a DMRC official.The Central Secretariat station is being developed as part of Metro phase V(A) as an extension of the existing Magenta Line from Janakpuri West to RK Ashram Marg. Construction work for the station’s expansion is being initiated near Gate 3 of the existing Central Secretariat Metro station.The section is one of three corridors cleared under Delhi Metro’s Phase-V(A) project, which spans 16.07 km and involves an estimated investment of around ₹12,000 crore. Approved by the central government in December last year, it is expected to provide direct metro access to the Kartavya Bhawans and other administrative complexes in Central Delhi. An assessment by the Centre revealed that around 60,000 office-goers and 200,000 visitors are expected to benefit daily through this corridor.The project is funded by the Centre, the Delhi government and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Last month, DMRC had floated a tender for the design and planning of four proposed underground stations between the Shivaji Stadium and Kartavya Bhawan as part of the Central Vista corridor —the second stations at Central Secretariat, Shivaji Stadium metro station, and Yuge Yugeen Bharat (near Rakabganj Gurudwara), as well as a new station at Kartavya Bhawan.The longest corridorAfter the addition of this corridor, the total length of the Magenta Line corridor will become 88.4 km, making it the longest in the DMRC network, running all the way from Botanical Garden to Inderlok as a fully driverless corridor once operational.The Magenta Line will feature stations in Noida, south Delhi and central Delhi. It will feature the highest number of interchange stations at 21, thereby significantly enhancing cross-city connectivity across the NCR.With this, the Magenta Line will surpass the Pink Line, which is currently the longest line with a total length of over 71.5 km and 46 stations. Apart from RK Ashram Marg to Indraprastha, the two other corridors were approved as part of the Phase-V(A) expansion are Tughlakabad to Kalindi Kunj and Aerocity to Terminal 1. These two corridors will be extensions of the upcoming Golden Line.Delhi Metro currently operates a network of about 395 km across Delhi-NCR with 289 stations. The system records an average ridership of around 65,00,000 passenger journeys daily and remains one of the largest metro networks in the world.