DMRC’s Airport Express project delayed?

India may be promising that it can deliver a world class city ahead of the Commonwealth Games, but one showpiece is likely to get delayed.

The Airport Express project being jointly developed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and Reliance Infra, it seems, is way behind schedule.

The special metro train will zip you from the heart of Delhi to the airport in just 22 minutes, a journey that normally takes more than an hour.

But players and visitors coming for this year's Commonwealth Games in October may miss the ride on this metro as DMRC may miss its completion deadline of September 2010. The Metro is being constructed under a unique model.

The DMRC will first complete all the civil works including stations, tunnel and viaduct and then hand it over to Reliance Infra, who will run it for a period of 30 years.
Infra is also responsible for laying tracks and operational equipment and completing the station, which will be modeled on airport terminals.

But the big worry for the government is that DMRC has not handed over the civil structure to Reliance Infra yet for fitting out. Even stations haven’t been given out yet for fitment and it’s this 3 to 4 month delay, which can cost the project dearly.

NDTV learnt that there has been a flurry of communication between Reliance Infra and DMRC, where the company has raised apprehension that at the current pace of work it may not be able to make the system operational before the Commonwealth Games.

While DMRC has not yet responded to NDTV's queries, Reliance Infra has refused to comment on the issue ...But a worried government is looking to expedite the project, which it considers a showpiece for the Commonwealth Games.