Full-height platform screens at 18 Delhi Metro stations to save lives, power

NEW DELHI: The underground stations of the upcoming Phase IV project of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) are going to be the first to feature full-height platform screen doors (PSD) after the standalone Airport Express Line.
The full-height PSDs would act as a complete glass barrier between the metro track and the platform and the doors would only open in sync with train doors. These PSDs would come up at a total of 18 underground stations of the corridors coming up as part of the Phase IV project.
Anuj Dayal, principal executive director (corporate communications), DMRC, said that there are 45 stations under the three Phase IV corridors – Janakpuri West-RK Ashram Marg (28.9 km), Aerocity-Tughlaqabad (23.6) km and Majlis Park-Maujpur (12.6 km) – and all of them would have PSDs.
While the elevated stations would have half-height PSDs, which are usually as tall as the doors, the underground stations would have full PSDs. Out of the three corridors, the standalone Silver Line (Aerocity-Tughlaqabad) has a 9.4 km underground section, while the Janakpuri West-RK Ashram stretch, which is an extension of the operational Magenta Line (Botanical Garden-Janakpuri West), has a 19.8-km-long underground section.
The Majlis Park-Maujpur corridor, an extension of the operational Pink Line (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar), has only elevated stations. Both Pink and Magenta Line corridors already have half-height PSDs at all the stations but none have full-height PSDs. “This will help in energy saving and better air circulation in the station area as doors will prevent loss of air circulation on the platform and tunnel side,” Dayal said.
The PSDs also help in better crowd management as commuters are aware of the exact location where the train doors would open and they can queue up accordingly. These ensure that no one comes in contact of a moving train, apart from falling or getting down on the track.
When asked if the half-height PSDs of the existing underground stations of Pink and Magenta Lines would be converted into full-height PSDs, Dayal said there are no such plans yet.
While the comparatively new Pink and Magenta Lines were built with PSDs in place, DMRC has also installed half-height PSDs at six of its busy stations on Yellow Line (Samaypur Badli-HUDA City Centre).