40 Minutes

Workers give finishing touches to the Hauz Khas interchange station (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

Across gate number 3 of Hauz Khas Metro station, and almost 10 floors down, workers in reflector jackets and helmets give finishing touches to the upcoming Hauz Khas interchange station, adjacent to the existing one. It’s the last leg of the job — while some are putting in place lighting fixtures on the platform, others are painting the ceiling.
These are Friday morning scenes from the project that is set to end the nightmare commute between Gurgaon and Noida — reducing travel time by 40 minutes — and possibly take the load off the heavily-burdened Rajiv Chowk station, currently the most crowded interchange station in the capital.

With the Yellow Line (HUDA City Centre-Samaypur Badli) already crossing Hauz Khas station, the interchange station will become a pit-stop for the upcoming Magenta Line. The ridership on the Yellow Line was 2,70,53,776 in June 2017, the DMRC said.

“Currently, a Metro journey from HUDA City Centre to Noida’s Botanical Garden takes about 90 minutes, with an interchange at Rajiv Chowk. With the interchange station at Hauz Khas, the travel time will be about 50 minutes,” Anuj Dayal, executive director, corporate communications, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), said. The line is expected to be operational in phases between October 2017 and March 2018.

Sharing the load

The Rajiv Chowk Metro interchange station, which became operational in 2005, now sees a footfall of 5 lakh people a day. While it has changed the face of Connaught Place, making the heart of Delhi more accessible, it has also had to bear with an ever-increasing influx of commuters who need to switch lines. The Hauz Khas project is expected to change that.

Ravi Gadepalli, an expert on sustainable passenger and freight transport systems, explained, “The DMRC follows a radial pattern, which is also how the city is planned. Having interchange stations helps commuters.”

P K Sarkar, professor of Transport Planning at the School of Planning and Architecture, too, called another interchange station “a welcome move as it saves time for those travelling long distances”.

For instance, a commuter on the Yellow Line going from Gurgaon to Kalkaji will have to travel 13 km less if he changes metros at Hauz Khas instead of Rajiv Chowk.

Dayal, too, said the commuting time “will significantly reduce as those travelling from Gurgaon and intending to go to Nehru Place, Kalkaji and other areas will not have to go all the way to Rajiv Chowk”.

At the moment, there are nine interchange stations on the Metro system — Rajiv Chowk, Kashmere Gate, Central Secretariat, Inderlok, Ashok Park Main, Yamuna Bank, Dwarka Sector 21, New Delhi and Kirti Nagar.

With Phase III — comprising the Magenta and Pink (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar) lines — set to become operational by March 2018, the number of interchange stations will grow to 23, with Hauz Khas being the most pivotal.

The current footfall of Hauz Khas station is 40,000 per day. This figure is expected to rise to 1,69,414 once the interchange station is functional. “Since both the Blue and Yellow lines make pit-stops at Rajiv Chowk, making it one of the busiest stations, it will be helpful once the Hauz Khas interchange station opens up,” Sarkar said.

Tough task

Experts, however, believe it will have little impact on road traffic. “Studies done in the past indicate that road traffic goes down by 2-3%. The change will be seen immediately but studies have shown it is temporary,” said Dr E Madhu, principal scientist, CSIR, Central Road Research Institute.

He said that “the reason behind this is the rapid vehicular growth”. “While the Metro is branching to various parts of the city, the pace at which the number of cars is increasing doesn’t change the traffic situation.” Gadepalli added that “the solution lies in increasing the number of buses”.

A hiccup for the station could be the lack of parking space. “There is no land available,” Dayal said. “However, the station is right on the Outer Ring Road and is well connected by buses and other modes of transport.”

The magnitude of the interchange station is evident by the fact that it has been under construction since 2013, which was done in five phases. The new five-level station, built at a depth of 29 metres, will be connected to the existing one through a 40-metre subway.

“The present station is 17 metres deep, and the foundation is 32 metres. There is also the foundation of the flyover on Outer Ring Road. If the new station had to be constructed below the existing one, we would have had to go deep up to 42 metres, which would have been difficult. That’s why the new station is adjacent to the existing one,” explained a DMRC official.

DMRC’s eagerly awaited Unattended Train Operations-enabled trains will ply on this route, and the new signalling system called Communication Based Train Control will also be implemented on the Magenta Line. “The frequency of the trains will increase and the waiting period will go down to 90-100 seconds from two minutes,” said a DMRC official.

The tunnelling for the new station was done using advanced tunnel boring machines. One of the challenges the DMRC encountered was the tunnel of the existing station. To “prevent any movement of the existing tunnel, a ‘D wall’ was constructed around it to provide support while the new tunnel was being built. To prevent vibration, ‘floating tracks’ were installed in tunnels,” a Metro official said.

Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus Metro station. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

Pink Line to bring North, South campuses closer

While the spirit of oneupmanship between Delhi University’s North and South campuses may not end anytime soon, the upcoming Pink Line (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar) is set to bring the two closer. Metres away from Sri Venkateswara College is the under-construction Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus Metro station. Nearby are two other well-known DU colleges — Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College and Ram Lal Anand College.

A DMRC official at the site explained: “Those commuting to North Campus can take the Pink Line from this station and get down at Azadpur, which is 10 stations away. From there, they can switch to the Yellow Line; two stations away is Vishwavidyalaya.”

The Pink Line is the DMRC’s longest Metro corridor — 58.59 km — and boasts 38 stations.

A portion of the Line — from Majlis Park to South Campus — is expected to be operational by December 2017. Sections from South Campus to Mayur Vihar I, and Trilokpuri to Shiv Vihar will open by March 2018. On Friday, DMRC began full signalling trials on the 20-km stretch from Majlis Park to the swanky South Campus station.

Part of Phase III, all stations of the Pink Line, just like the Magenta Line, have platform screen doors. The new trains also follow the Communication Based Train Control signalling system, “which will enable the movement of trains with a frequency of about 90 to 100 seconds”. These trains will run on Unattended Train Operations mode, commonly called “driverless trains”.

On a Thursday afternoon, students from neighbouring colleges throng the busy Satya Niketan market that has cosy cafes and delis. Some, like Bhavna Yadav, a first-year student of Economics (Hons), have travelled all the way from North Campus. “I took the Yellow Line from Vishwavidyalaya and got down at AIIMS. Then I took an auto for Rs 60. The journey cost Rs 100, but once this station opens up, it will become more affordable,” said Yadav.

Anushka, a first-year student of BCom (Programme) at Ram Lal Anand College, said, “I come from Gurgaon every day and the journey pinches the pocket. This station will make life easier.”

Arun (28), who manages a cafe in Satya Niketan, said the station would mean better business: “It may not be the next Kamla Nagar, but it will certainly give business a boost.”

The South Campus and Dhaula Kuan stations will also be connected via a travelator — the longest one by the DMRC. The 900m-long foot overbridge will have 24 travelators, according to DMRC. “Commuters can take the travelator from the South Campus platform directly to the platform of Dhaula Kuan station for the Airport Express Line. This is the first time a travelator is connecting two different stations,” a DMRC official said. At the starting point, the travelator’s height is 13 metres from the ground.

DMRC is also building a 300m-long travelator at the Rajouri Garden Metro station.