Expecting a tremendous increase in its ridership after the upcoming phase III of its network expansion is completed, the Delhi Metro has decided to build longer foot over-bridges and ramps to tackle denser crowds.
These bigger foot over-bridges and ramps will be constructed at the six interchange stations on the Mukundpur- Shiv Vihar corridor. The interchange stations on this 56 km long corridor, that will be the longest corridor in the Delhi Metro's network, include Azadpur, Netaji Subhas Place, Rajouri Garden, Mayur Vihar 1, Karkarduma, Anand Vihar and Welcome.
At Anand Vihar, the new station will be adjacent to the operational one.According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the length of these foot over-bridges and ramps will be around 70 to 200 meters. The construction at these six interchange stations is going to be carried out in such a way that constraints of space and alignment will be taken care of properly.
The current Azadpur station at the present is elevated while the upcoming station there will be underground. Similarly, there would be changes at the present Netaji Subhash Place station which is elevated and will in the future be clubbed with a 'semi-underground' station.
All the foot over-bridges would be elevated at Rajouri Garden, Mayur Vihar 1, Karkarduma and Welcome which themselves have an elevated structure.
"It was very difficult to connect new stations with the operational ones. However, keeping in mind the convenience of commuters, our engineers have designed these foot over-bridges and ramps which will connect the new and the old stations. lifts and escalators will also be provided wherever required and the connectivity will be from concourse to concourse," said DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal.