Magenta Line (Delhi Metro)

The Magenta Line (Line 8) is a metro rail line of the Delhi Metro, a rapid transit system in Delhi, India and the first driverless metro in India. The line, which runs across North, West and South Delhi and is mostly underground, spans 50.18 kilometers (31.18 mi) and consists of 33 metro stations: 17 are elevated and the rest are underground.^[1] Unlike the Airport Metro Express, this line directly serves Terminal 1 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Currently trains on this line run on three separate sections i.e, Majlis Park to Deepali Chowk, Krishna Park Extension to Janakpuri West, Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden, one has to change trains at Janakpuri West if they intend to go further till Krishna Park Extension.

The Janakpuri West metro station on the line contains India's tallest escalator with a vertical height of 15.6 meters (51 ft).^[2] The highest point on the Delhi Metro network is near the Haiderpur Badli Mor Metro station, where the line reaches a record-breaking height of 28.362 metres at Pier No. 340. This location surpasses the previous record of 23.6 meters at Dhaula Kuan on the Pink Line. The Magenta Line has interchanges with the Yellow Line at Hauz Khas and Haiderpur Badli Mor, with the Blue Line at Janakpuri West and Botanical Garden, and with the Violet Line at Kalkaji Mandir, with the Red Line at Madhuban Chowk and with the Pink Line at Majlis Park of the Delhi Metro network.

Shankar Vihar metro station is unique within the network as it is the only station where civilian movement is restricted by the military. Located within the Delhi Cantonment, it primarily serves defence personnel due to its position in the heart of the defence zone.^[3] The Hauz Khas metro station on this line is the deepest metro station in the network at a depth of 29 meters (95 ft).^[4]

For the first time in India, the construction of two parallel tunnels was successfully completed concurrently at the Dabri Mor–Janakpuri South station.^[5]

For phase III, the line was initially scheduled for completion in December 2016, but the timeline was extended due to challenging tunnelling conditions. Trial runs began in August 2017. The line was inaugurated in two phases: the first section, from Botanical Garden to Kalkaji Mandir, was opened to the public on 25 December 2017.^[6] The second phase was inaugurated on 28 May 2018, with the remaining section becoming operational and open for public use on 29 May 2018 at 06:00 IST.^[7]

A stretch of 8.679 km (5.393 mi), comprising 9 stations on the Botanical Garden–Kalkaji Mandir section, was opened to the public on 25 December 2017. The portion of 24.82 km (15.422 mi) of the line was opened to public on 28 May 2018 and a small stretch of 2.8 km (1.740 mi) the section of Phase IV was opened on 5 January 2025.^[8]

The stretch of 9.92 km (6.16 mi) comprising 7 stations from Deepali Chowk to Majlis Park of Phase IV was opened on 8 March 2026.

Under this phase, the line will be further extended from Janakpuri West to Ramakrishna Ashram Marg, providing interchanges with Green, Red, Yellow, Pink and Blue lines, and improving connectivity in the northern parts of Delhi. For this, the existing depot of Pink Line at Mukundpur is being upgraded to service Magenta Line trains also. The extension is expected to be fully completed by December 2027.^[9]A small section between Janakpuri West and Krishna Park Extension is operational since 5 January 2025.^[10]

Trial Runs were started in November 2025 between Majlis Park and Deepali Chowk stations using the new Alstom Metropolis trains. 3 stations in this stretch, namely Pitampura, Prashant Vihar and North Pitampura have been renamed to Madhuban Chowk, Uttari Pitampura - Prashant Vihar and Haiderpur Village respectively. This section was opened on 8 March 2026.

As of 2026, it was decided that the Inderlok-Indraprastha corridor under Green Line's extension for Phase 4 will now be implemented as an extension for Magenta Line instead, which will bring the total corridor length from Botanical Garden to Inderlok to about 89 km, making it the longest metro line in Delhi. Consequently, the line will form an interchange with itself at Nabi Karim.

A 9.913 kilometres (6.160 mi) extension under Phase 5A was approved by the Union Cabinet at a cost of ₹9,570.4 crore (US$1.1 billion).^[11] This new corridor, which would be completely underground, will begin from Ramakrishna Ashram Marg on the Blue Line–Magenta Line interchange and have the following stations: Shivaji Stadium, Yuge Yugeen Bharat, Central Secretariat, CCS Building, India Gate, War Memorial–High Court, Baroda House, Bharat Mandapam, and will end at Indraprastha on the Blue Line–Magenta Line interchange. The foundation stone of this stretch was laid on 8 March 2026 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• Official website
• Delhi Metro Annual Reports
• UrbanRail.Net – descriptions of all metro systems in the world, each with a schematic map showing all stations.