The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Thursday said that the Dhansa Bus Stand metro station on the Dwarka-Najafgarh-Dhansa Bus Stand corridor will be the first ever underground metro station of the Delhi Metro network to have an entire underground floor dedicated for parking vehicles.
In a statement, it said that the work on the 1.8 km-long Najafgarh-Dhansa Bus Stand section on the Grey Line is now almost complete, and with the completion of this section, this corridor will become 6.1-km-long with four stations. “This extension will immensely benefit the residents of the interior areas around Najafgarh. All efforts are being made to open the Najafgarh-Dhansa Bus Stand section sometime later this month after complying with all statutory requirements,” the DMRC said.
The station, designed as a four-level underground structure will have a platform at the bottom (at an approximate depth of 18 metres) followed by the concourse and then an entire floor for parking above it with the roof level at the top (ground level). The DMRC said that the parking facility will be integrated with the main station area where vehicle users will be able to park their cars and two-wheelers and then proceed to the concourse of the station directly using lifts and escalators.
“The facility will have a parking space for about 110 cars and 185 two wheelers. There would be provision for property development activities at the ground level in the future. The parking facility can be considered a major design-based improvement since no other underground metro station in Delhi Metro’s network has any such facility,” the DMRC said.
Long queues
The DMRC also said that metro trains are running almost empty due to COVID-19 restrictions, trains are only 10%-15% of passenger capacity. It said that lockdown guidelines have been further eased by the authorities, enabling most of the economic activities to take place due to which, there has been continuous build up of the passenger crowd outside stations due to regulated entry resulting in inconvenience to them.
“The DMRC regrets the inconvenience caused to its passengers due to these restrictions. While appreciating the patience and cooperation exhibited by the passengers in such a scenario, the DMRC hopes that the situation shall improve once the restrictions are relaxed by the authorities,” a spokesperson said.