DELHI METRO Rail Corp has awarded a 30-year build-operate-transfer PPP contract for the Airport Metro Express Line to a consortium formed of utility company Reliance Energy and Spanish rolling stock manufacturer CAF.
The 22·7 km line will link New Delhi station with Indira Gandhi International Airport via intermediate stations at Shivaji Stadium and Moti Bagh. Opening is scheduled for July 2010, ready for the Commonwealth Games which will be held in the city three months later.
DMRC is responsible for tunnelling and civil works and will meet half the cost of the Rs25bn project, while the consortium will install 1 676 mm gauge track, 25 kV electrification, signalling and railway systems. CAF will supply rolling stock. Announcing the contract award on January 23, Reliance Energy said the line will be 'comparable to the world's best airport link expresses'.
A separate project is planned to extend metro Line 3 from Dwarka Sector 9 to the airport.
