Delhi’s Teeming Streets Give Way To Air-Conditioned Calm
Contractors and design firms are now preparing to bid for the next phase of the rapidly expanding metro system in Indias capital. The first underground section, completed this summer, is impressing locals and visitors with its spacious, air-conditioned calm, contrasting with the frenetic atmosphere above in Old Delhis teeming streets.
Costing about $2.3 billion, the metros 66-kilometer first phase was completed in stages over some seven years, starting in October 1998. That included the underground north-south Line Two, with 6.6-km of Indias first machine-driven subway tunnels. The overall schedule was three years shorter than originally proposed by the government, says E. Sreedharan, managing director of Delhi Metro Rail Corp (DMRC).