Delhi to get a major upgrade in 2026; check details

New Delhi: The capital’s daily commute is set for a major upgrade in 2026 as the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) prepares to roll out three new corridors aimed at faster and smoother travel across the city. Construction of two more corridors is expected to begin early next year. Adding to the boost in regional connectivity, the entire 82-km Delhi–Ghaziabad–Meerut RRTS corridor is also likely to finally open to the public, reported TOI.
Under DMRC’s Phase-IV expansion plan, six new corridors spanning 112.4 km and featuring 94 new stations have been proposed. Of these, the 12.3-km Majlis Park–Maujpur Metro corridor—an extension of the Pink Line—is already ready, completing the Pink Line’s circular loop. Two other corridors, the RK Ashram Marg–Janakpuri West corridor (an extension of the Magenta Line) and the Aerocity–Tughlakabad corridor (the new Golden Line), are slated to open in 2026, according to the TOI report.

These three DMRC corridors feature the city’s first-ever double-decker viaducts, marking a significant engineering milestone. In each double-decker section, the Metro viaduct runs on the upper deck, while a road flyover occupies the lower deck. The three such viaducts are located between Bhajanpura and Yamuna Vihar, Azadpur and Ashok Vihar Nagar stations, and Sangam Vihar and Ambedkar Nagar stations. Among them, the 1.4-km-long double-decker viaduct between Bhajanpura and Yamuna Vihar on the Majlis Park–Maujpur corridor is already complete. This corridor also features DMRC’s fifth bridge across the Yamuna.


Meanwhile, Phase-IV’s first operational stretch—from Janakpuri West to Krishna Park Extension on the Janakpuri West–RK Ashram corridor—was opened for passenger services on January 5 this year.

Construction of two corridors—Inderlok to Indraprastha (extension of the Green Line) and Rithala-NarelaKundli (extension of the Red Line)—will start next year. RithalaNarela-Kundli is set to become the firstever corridor to connect Haryana and UP via Delhi. Kundli in Haryana will become the sixth NCR city for Delhi Metro to enter after Noida, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Bahadurgarh and Faridabad. Meanwhile, Inderlok to Indraprastha will improve connectivity to Central Delhi.

These two corridors are currently progressing with the tendering work and other preconstruction-related activities. The construction work on the sixth and smallest corridor, Saket G Block-Lajpat Nagar corridor, an extension of the new Golden Line, began on Dec 8. Delhi Metro will run India’s first three-coach train corridor on this small corridor to cater specifically to short-distance urban travel.

The construction of these six new corridors will increase the number of interchange stations from 29 to 55. Currently, Kashmere Gate is the lone station that connects three lines: Red Line, Yellow Line and Violet Line. However, Azadpur, Lajpat Nagar and New Delhi are on the way to becoming triple interchange stations. Among the features that the new corridors will have are driverless trains, platform screen doors and solar plants at the stations.

“The addition of six new corridors will ensure seamless and comfortable connectivity to commuters. Since its inception, DMRC has been at the forefront of transforming urban mobility in Delhi,” a DMRC official told TOI.
Of the total 82km Delhi– Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor, a 55km section across 11 stations from New Ashok Nagar to Meerut South is currently operational. Trial runs on the remaining section were completed in Aug. The frequency of the Namo Bharat trains will improve to 10 minutes from the current 15 once the entire corridor is operational.