The construction work on the underground section of Corridor 2 in Patna, the capital of Bihar, will soon be on a fast track as two of the four TBMs procured by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the project have already arrived via ship from China.

The machines - nearly 90-m long and with a 15-m diameter were delivered for assembling at the Moin-ul-Haque Stadium site. This is where construction work on the underground station has been going on, it will take around a month to assemble the TBMs.

The TBMs EPB will be lowered into two excavated areas, at a distance of 10-m apart. They will then begin to drive the twin tunnels - one north-bound and one south-bound - from Moin-Ul-Haque Stadium in March 2023. The tunnels will be lined with precast concrete rings and construction should be completed within 24 to 30 months.  The TBMs can usually bore nearly 8-10 m per day, the machines will be operated by a team of around 35 people.  

The 7.9km-long underground tunnel from Rajendra Nagar to Frazer Road will include 7 underground stations: Rajendra Nagar, Moin-ul-Haque Stadium, Patna University, PMCH, Gandhi Maidan, Akashvani and Patna Junction (an interchangeable station). 

The Corridor 2 (Patna Junction-Patliputra Bus Terminal) will be 14.5km-long, including a 6.6km long priority corridor- Malahi Pakri, Khemnichak, Bhoothnath, Zero Mile and New ISBT, will be part of an elevated section. This will be ready by 2025 and the work on 7.9km underground network will be completed by 2026. 

The estimated cost of Patna metro project is EUR 1.58bn (Rs 13925.50 crore, excluding land acquisition cost, which is entirely to be borne by the state government). For further details please click here and in/90 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit https://patnametrorail.in. 34/22. 50/22.