Delhi airport to get train for inter-terminal travel by 2020

NEW DELHI: The Delhi airport will have an air

train

in three years that will help people in moving between the three terminals.

Aviation minister Jayant Sinha on Thursday told Parliament that Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) has proposed to have an automated people mover (APM) between its terminals by

2020

. TOI had first reported this on February 24, 2016. “The master plan 2016 has a provision for APM to connect all the terminals. Its proposed length is 5.5km, of which 1.5km is underground whereas a 4-km stretch is elevated,” Sinha said in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

According to sources, the average cost of each kilometer of the underground stretch is Rs 500 crore and for over the ground stretch, it is Rs 200 crore. So, the project may cost about Rs 1,550 crore. “The master plan recommends this facility to be available by year 2020... DIAL has already taken steps for exploring all technical possibilities for providing the APM facility in consultation with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC),” the minister said.

TOI has learnt that DIAL has held initial consultations with a New York-based firm. According to that, the plan is to have four stations for the air train — at T1; Aerocity (the hospitality district); the cargo terminal and a common one for T3 and T2/4.

The plan will be made official soon. “The design, project cost and other details etc are fixed in the final stage of the major development plan, in compliance with the operation, management and development agreement (OMDA),” Sinha added.

Delhi Airport — with two terminals (T3 and T1) and three runways — handled 5.5 crore passengers in 2016. By July, DIAL will begin work on expanding T1 and laying the fourth runway. With this, the annual capacity of T1 will rise to 3.5 crore while T3-T2 will collectively handle about 4 crore passengers by 2020.