On 25.10.2012 a TBM was lowered at the Mandi House construction site to start the 700 m tunnel excavation towards ITO metro station, in Phase 3 of the Delhi rail network. Phase 3 will bring an additional 103 km of track under the metro network by 2016. The machine will bore the 9.37 km Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate corridor. The seven stations on the corridor will be Central Secretariat, Janpath, Mandi House, ITO, Delhi Gate, Jama Masjid, Lal Quila and Kashmere Gate. Major monuments of Old Delhi such as Jama Masjid, Delhi Gate and Red Fort will be connected with Janpath. The Central Secretariat to Mandi House section should be commissioned by 2014.

The TBM earlier reached the Janpath metro station site after a 900 m tunnel excavation, part of a 3-km underground corridor between Central Secretariat (on the Jahingirpuri-Huda City Centre line and one end of the Badarpur line) and Mandi House (Dwarka-Noida City Centre line) to decongest the Rajiv Chowk station, an interchange for the two lines. Mandi House will be an interchange station, and is expected to become a hub for metro users in the city. Click in/11. Visit www.delhimetrorail.com. 48/12.