Phase-4 Metro stations to beat space crunch, become compact
In Metro Phase4, the DMRC plans to run four and six coach trains. Only, in the extreme case of congestion in future, we have kept a provision to increase the size to nine coaches... In such a case, the DMRC could look into staggered alighting/boarding technique. This is practised in several Metro cities abroad
A DMRC official
NEW DELHI: Metro stations coming up in Delhi after Phase-3 project are likely to be more compact in size, officials of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said. Buoyed by the success of the upcoming Ashram station on the Pink Line (Majlis Park-shiv Vihar), the DMRC is planning to implement the same civil engineering technique on its future stations that face space crunch.
All Metro stations in Delhi measure around 265 m in length while platforms are 140m.
As of now, Ashram is the smallest station in the Delhi Metro network. Its size, according to the DMRC, was completely unplanned at the time when work had begun in 2012.
“The land identified for the station went into litigation and we had already wasted around three years waiting to get that patch for construction work. But the legal battle went on and, so, we decided to let that go and build the station in whatever space that was available to us,” a Metro official said.
The station at the busy Ashram intersection had to be redesigned and reduced considera- bly from 265 to 151 metre. Also, till date, DMRC has been building platforms with a length of 140 metre, which can accommodate a six-coach train. At Ashram station, the platform length was reduced to 135 metres and the space usually used for utility, including ventilation was removed.
“Now that the station is ready, we are trying to do something similar at our newer stations. The Ashram station is also the first to have three underground vertical levels,” an official who is part of the project said.
Metro officials said the compact station platforms would comfortably accommodate a six-coach train. “In Metro Phase-4, the DMRC plans to run four and six coach trains. Only, in the extreme case of congestion in future, we have kept a provision to increase the size to nine coach,” another official said.
“In such a case, the DMRC could look into staggered alighting/boarding technique. This is practised in several Metro cities abroad,” the official added.
Delhi Metro’s Phase-4, is yet to be approved by the Delhi government. Its finance department, last week, gave its approval for three out of six corridors and termed three other routes “unviable”, but even the cleared corridors are yet to get an approval from the Delhi Cabinet.
Once completed in 2021, the official deadline, the total length of the Metro network in Delhi will be 434 kilometres with 308 stations. The daily ridership through the network is likely to go up to 63 lakh from the current 28 lakh.