New Delhi to pilot station renewal programme

New Delhi is the first of 26 major stations around India which IR (Indian Railways) has selected for redevelopment to ‘world-class’ standards. According to IR, the stations will emerge ‘as graceful gateways and iconic centers redefining the urban landscape of their respective cities.’

Indian urban population is forecast to rise from 28% of the country’s inhabitants to around 40% by the middle of the century. Coupled with rising disposable incomes, urbanization has generated growth in commuting as well as more inter-city travel. Despite constraints on supply, rail travel has been increasing by more than 7% a year over the past four years. With much of this traffic focused on the major cities, the urban station infrastructure has been severely strained.

The existing station was completely rebuilt in the 1950s to relieve the pressure at Delhi Main. It has 16 platforms that vary in length, width and geometry, linked by three footbridges. Parcels, linen for sleeping cars and catering supplies are transferred to the platforms by hand carts, leading to conflicting flows as passengers and parcels try to reach the train from the same, relatively low, platforms. The parcel areas have poor security and are not efficiently organized. The station lacks a concourse and is generally overcrowded. Security is poor, and passengers can enter the station and wander across the tracks at will.

New Delhi station is currently used by around 250 000 passengers per day during the off-peak season. The new station is expected to accommodate twice that number safely and efficiently in a pleasant environment, with a design maximum of 700 000.

The station will be 400 m long by 250 m wide, with arrival, departure and commuter operations segregated vertically. Long-distance departures will be handled at first-floor level, above the ground level platforms. Long-distance arrivals and commuters will use the basement level, offering convenient access to the metro station across the road.

A grand entrance hall running the length of the station will be supplement by waiting areas totaling 73 600 m². There will be 18 parallel platforms of uniform width and layout, able to take 24 or 26-car trains. This should cater for projected growth well into the middle of the century. Standardization of platform length and width will allow a modular approach to station design, simplifying construction. This modularity will be repeated in the roof design.

The main passenger flows will be segregated from static functions such as ticketing and reservations. Clearly marked entrances and exits on the platforms should reduce conflicts between boarding and alighting passengers and allow more space to be freed up at platform level for the train servicing functions.

Access to the platforms will only be possible via the waiting rooms, which will require a valid ticket. IR is looking at the potential for a ‘waiting room ticket’ which would give friends and family access to the waiting areas but not the platforms.

With almost all of the upper level required for ticketing, waiting areas and departures, there is no space for large voids in the concourse. Natural light will be brought down to the platforms via a series of ‘perforations’ in the roof and concourse.

The basement-level arrivals concourse will be 45 m wide. This will extend beyond the station area to provide a good connection into the adjacent urban developments as well as the transport interchange. Provision for parcels traffic, linen, and catering functions will be concentrated at the Delhi Main end of the station, with service lifts to the platforms.

Most of the station area and the adjacent yard tracks will be decked over to give a landscaped ‘green lung’ in the heart of Delhi. This Green Park concept draws inspiration from some of the great urban parks, integrated with both Old Delhi and the Lutyens Bungalow zone. It is expected that the railway corridor will become one of the most desirable residential areas in the city.