Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line, which connects Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden on Friday, achieved unattended train operations (UTO), marking a major step in the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) shift towards driverless metro operation. Now, every train on the Magenta Line willrun without a driver, with train operators completely removed from service.
After the Magenta Line, the DMRC is now planning to introduce UTO on the Pink Line, running from Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar.
"The unattended train operations were initiated by Delhi Metro in 2020. The transition to UTO was carried out in phased stages, all approved by the Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety," TOI quoted a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation official as saying.
Process for driverless metro started in May 2024 on Magenta Line
The process of driverless metro operation for the Magenta Line started in May 2024 with Stage I, which involved removing cab partition doors and gradually phasing out the driving console, though an operator remained inside the cab.
Then in August 2024, in Stage II, the operator was allowed to move anywhere inside the train rather than remain in the cab. In August again, the Stage IIIA reduced the presence of operators to every alternate train.
Finally, in May 2025, Stage IIIB was implemented where the metro drivers were removed entirely, officially making the Magenta Line fully driverless.
Pink Line to become fully driverless in 3-4 months
The DMRC said for the Pink Line, automation started in March 2025 and reached Stage II by June 2025 and is expected to become fully driverless within the next three to four months.
After both Magenta Line and Pink Line are fully automated, Delhi Metro will have 97 km of driverless corridors out of its total 395 km network in the Delhi-NCR region, making it one of the largest driverless metro systems in the world.
Delhi Metro said that the advanced technology will deliver high-frequency, punctual, and safe services while reducing manual intervention.
Apart from these two lines, driverless operations are also being planned for all three priority corridors under Phase IV, RK Ashram Marg–Janakpuri West (Magenta Line extension), Aerocity–Tughlaqabad (new Golden Line), and Majlis Park–Maujpur (Pink Line extension). Along with this, three more Phase IV corridors were approved last year, though construction is yet to begin and these include Lajpat Nagar–Saket G Block (Golden Line extension), Inderlok–Indraprastha (Green Line extension), and Rithala–Narela–Kundli (Red Line extension).
