India’s Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is planning to build a subway that will link the IGI Airport Metro station on the Airport Express Line at Terminal 3 (T3) with Terminal 2 (T2) of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, reported the Hindustan Times.

This subway will cut down the distance between the two terminals from approximately 500m to just 70m.

The new subway will reduce the traveller’s dependency on shuttle buses or other transportation options to reach T2 from T3.

Presently, T3 witnesses a passenger footfall of 119,000-124,000 daily while T2 sees 38,000-42,000 passengers on average each day, reported News9.

Estimated to cost Rs266m, the new subway will be 10m wide and 4.2m high.

This subway will be constructed using the box-pushing method, which is claimed to be faster and requires less excavation than traditional methods.

An airport official was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying: “In this method, vertical excavation or large-scale digging is not required. It is much faster than the conventional ‘cut and cover’ technology used generally for subway construction.”

The project is estimated to take approximately 21 months to complete from the tender award date.

The DMRC will handle system operations and maintenance of the subway while the airport operator, Delhi International Airport (DIAL), will cover the construction costs, including any utility shifting and restoration work.

In May this year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the DMRC and DIAL for the subway’s building, operation, and maintenance.