The tunnelling work connecting the upcoming underground Jama Masjid metro station with Agra Fort Metro station in Agra was completed on Tuesday.
CM Yogi Adityanath had on February 6 commissioned two tunnel boring machines (TBM) Yamuna and Ganga at Agra to dig two 7.7km long tunnels for up and down movement of metro trains. Currently, TBM Ganga has dug up a more than 100m long tunnel and TBM Yamuna completed the 440m long dug up on Tuesday.
“The two TBMs are operational. A safe distance between the two has been maintained as part of safety procedure,” said a UPMRC official.
The 3-km long underground tunnel between Taj Mahal and Jama Masjid is part of a priority corridor which is set to be open by next year.MD UPMRC Sushil Kumar said: “This is an important milestone as the first tunnel section of the three sections has been completed. We are striving to commence metro operations six months ahead of schedule– that is March 2024 instead of August 2024.
” TBM breakthrough is one of the most challenging achievements in a metro project which requires high accuracy and ultimate precision. Agra metro project estimated cost is Rs 8,379 crore and has two corridors.