Coming soon: Air trains for travel between terminals at Delhi airport

Major airports like New York's JFK, London Heathrow, Hong Kong and Zurich also provide the facility

In a first for the country, Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital will get its own dedicated free-to-use metro lines for commuters to transit from one terminal to another. Several major airports across the world like New York’s JFK, London Heathrow, Hong Kong and Zurich also provide the facility.  

“Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL) has proposed an automated people mover (APM) between terminal 1 (low cost domestic), T2 (old international which will make way for a new T4 in 2020) and T3. Work on it was originally supposed to begin in 2020 alongside the construction of T4, but, given the growth at Delhi airport and volume of traffic, the aviation ministry has told us that the APM should be expedited and made ready at the earliest,” The Economic Times quoted a highly placed source as saying. 

In 2016, Delhi airport — with two terminals (T3 and T1) and three runways — handled 5.5 crore passengers. DIAL will begin work on expanding T1 and laying the fourth runway by July. 

By 2020, the traffic capacity at T1 will rise to 3.5 crore while T3-T2 will collectively handle about 4 crore passengers.

In the next phase when T4 is ready in 2025, annual traffic is expected to rise to 9.2 crore. 

According to the ET report, the plan is to have four stations for its air train at T1, Aerocity (the hospitality district), cargo terminal and a common one for T3 and T2/4. 

Presently, passengers transit between terminals by buses, which takes 30 minutes for each trip.