INDIA: Following the official inauguration by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy on January 6, the 6·3 km elevated section of Delhi Metro from Yamuna Bank to Anand Vihar opened for passenger service at 06.00 the following day.

The five-station branch of Line 3 is expected to handle around 100 000 passengers a day by 2011. The new station at Anand Vihar will serve as an important intermodal hub on the eastern side of the city, providing interchange with Indian Railways’ main line services and the Interstate Bus Terminus.

With high levels of ridership causing congestion on the network, DMRC is adding additional trains to the fleet and plans to extend trains from four to six cars from May.

The city’s metro network is expected to expand significantly before the Commonwealth Games start in October. A 27 km southern extension of Line 2 to Gurgaon, Line 6 from Central Secretariat to Badarpur, and Delhi’s first 1 435 mm gauge metro line from Inderlok to Mundka are all scheduled to open in the next few months. The Anand Vihar branch will also be extended across the state boundary into Uttar Pradesh when the remaining section to Ghaziabad with two more stations enters service later this year.

The Delhi Airport Metro Express Link is now expected to open in September, along with an extension of metro Line 3 from Dwarka 9 to a new interchange hub at Dwarka 21.