Delhi Metro completes 20 years of metro train operations in Delhi-NCR

New Delhi, India (Metro Rail Today): The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) today celebrated the landmark moment of completing 20 years of Metro operations in Delhi-NCR. It was marked with inauguration of a special exhibition highlighting 20 years of operations & the Indo-Japan partnership which has helped shape the Delhi Metro Rail project.

A special exhibition was inaugurated at Welcome Metro Station by His Excellency, SUZUKI Hiroshi, Ambassador Extraordinary of Japan to India, in the presence of DMRC’s Managing Director, Vikas Kumar, SAITO Mitsunori, Chief Representative, JICA India Office and other senior officials. Japan has a long-standing association with the DMRC since the inception of the organisation through financial support and technical assistance for the construction of all phases of the Delhi Metro project so far.

This exhibition offers the glimpses of Delhi Metro’s landmark moments in the past 20 years and covers special occasions such as inauguration of major corridors, introduction of new technologies, unique facilities, interesting facts and visits by important personalities. The exhibition also showcases the partnership of Delhi Metro and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and other Japanese organisations which have supported Delhi Metro in its journey so far.

As part of the celebrations of the 20th operations anniversary, the first train which was flagged off by the then Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihar Vajpayee on 24th December, 2002, was specially decorated and operated today on the Red Line. Announcements were made inside the train to inform passengers that they were travelling in the very first train which sparked a delightful reaction from the passengers inside the train.

Delhi Metro utilises the space in its stations to showcase artworks and exhibitions that reflect either the rich culture of places where the stations are located or to commemorate special occasions or cover a specific theme. For instance, an exhibition installed at Rajiv Chowk Metro station in August 2022 extensively covered the tragedy of ‘Partition’. Similarly, a permanent exhibition at Rajouri Garden Metro Station pays tribute to the heroes of armed forces. Many of our stations have theme-based art works as well.

"Congratulations to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, its staff members and their families on 20th anniversary of its operation. Every operational achievement was made possible with great individual efforts. The last two decades have witnessed steady progress in our cooperation," said Hiroshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India.

The journey of Delhi Metro operations commenced on 24th December, 2002, when the then Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee had flagged off the first ever train on the 8.4 kilometer long Shahadara to Tis Hazari corridor of Red Line. Since then, the Delhi Metro network expanded exponentially. The expansion of the network has also been among the fastest in the world, as more than 380 kilometres of new lines have been added since 2002. Today, DMRC operates 391 kilometers of metro network with 286 stations on 12 corridors (Including Noida – Greater Noida and Rapid Metro, Gurugram) across Delhi-NCR.

However, after 20 years of metro operations in Delhi-NCR, DMRC is still facing financial crisis due to some mismanagement, corruption and quality issue in part of its officials during executing construction work of 22.7 km Delhi Metro Airport Express Line conencting New Delhi Railway Station to Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). This makes DMRC liable to pay about Rs 7,000 crore to Reliance Infra-arm Delhi Airport Metro Express Private Limited (DAMEPL). 

Today Delhi Metro is the largest metro network in India and among the largest metros in the world with some of the most advanced technologies such as driverless metro operations on two corridors. The network is further being expanded in the phase – IV project, after completion of which, another 65 kilometers of network will be added. Currently, the construction is in progress on three approved priority corridors of Phase IV. Two of them are the extension of existing Pink (Majlis Park to Maujpur) and Magenta (R K Ashram Marg to Japankpuri West) Lines, while a new Silver Line will come up connecting Tughlakabad to Delhi Aerocity.