Metro at Delhi’s India Gate: corridor connecting new museum at North Block, ministry offices on anvil

“It will be an underground corridor and the stations are proposed at Bharat Mandapam-Supreme Court, India Gate Hexagon (2 stations), Kartavya Path, Central Secretariat (interchange), North Block and Yuge Yugeen Museum…,” said Delhi Metro Rail Corporation spokesperson Anuj Dayal when asked for comment.

“The Detailed Project Report is yet to be prepared and the proposal is in its preliminary stages,” he added.

The corridor will be a standard gauge with 2,900 mm rolling stock, said Dayal.

The first phase of the Metro was broad gauge with the rolling stock, or train coaches, 3,200 mm wide. The subsequent phases, including the Violet and Green lines, were built on the narrower standard gauge. The coaches in these lines were 2,900 mm wide.

Under its Central Vista revamp, the government has proposed constructing new Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings after demolishing existing structures. The first three CCS buildings are under construction on the plot that used to house the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and are expected to be completed by April 2025.

The Ministries operating out of North Block, including Home Affairs and Finance, are expected to shift to the CCS 1, 2, and 3 buildings, paving the way for the heritage building to be converted into the Yuge Yugeen National Museum.

When the government first proposed the Central Vista redevelopment plan in 2019, an automated people mover, which is a smaller transit system, was expected to be built to connect the 10 new CCS buildings and to the Delhi Metro network. However, since then, the government has dropped that plan, as per sources.

Now, Ministry sources said, the Metro corridor was being planned to connect the new CCS buildings as well as a facility for the visitors to India Gate and the proposed Yuge Yugeen National Museum.

The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) is expected to restore North Block first, having got the Heritage Conservation Committee’s nod for the project on October 24.

As per the CPWD’s project report, the “restoration and comprehensive repairs” of North Block “shall contribute all necessary action and interventions taken to prolong its lifespan; prevent its damage and deterioration; minimise the impact of external agents of decay and intervention on the building and its material and prepare for natural and human-induced disasters. All efforts shall be made to restore the North Block, retaining its values and significance, authenticity and interventions, and visual connection to and from the structure…”

Meanwhile, speaking at a press conference Tuesday about the achievements of the Ministry in the first six months of this term, Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Manohar Lal said the government was focusing on expanding the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) in the country.

On housing, he said the government had given provisional sanction for 6.12 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban 2.0, which was launched in September. The exact number of houses per state would be decided after demand surveys are completed, he said.