Know all about Delhi Metro's Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section

New Delhi (Urban Transport News): The Dilshad Garden – Shahid Sthal (New Bus Adda) Metro corridor is now ready for operations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate this section today. The 9.63 km long section will connect the satellite city of Ghaziabad with the national capital. The section will be an extension of the Rithala–Dilshad Garden Red Line and will comprise of eight elevated Metro stations. Salient Features of Corridor

• Total Length: 9.63 km
• Track Gauge: Broad Gauge
• Nos. of Stations: 08
• Station names: Shaheed Nagar, Raj Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, Hindon River Station and New Bus Adda.
• Currently, the 25.09 km long Red Line operates between Rithala to Dilshad Garden. After the opening of this 9.63 km long section, the entire Red Line will become 34.72 km in length.
• There are 8 stations on this section out of which, 6 stations (Raj Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, and New Bus Adda) have station buildings on both sides interconnecting at the concourse level and with station platforms through Foot Over Bridges (FOB).
• Shaheed Nagar has a building on one side (Ghaziabad to Delhi) and the other side is connected through FOB. The Hindon River station is off road with four floors.
• This would be the second Metro Line in Ghaziabad after Vaishali and the first Metro link connecting the interiors of Ghaziabad. This corridor will pass through the Sahibabad Industrial Area and will significantly impact the residential areas lying in proximity. The extension of the Metro line will connect residents of Ghaziabad City with various parts of Delhi / NCR. Currently, commuters have to rely on other modes of transport from Dilshad Garden to reach Sahibabad and further Ghaziabad. Now with the extension of Metro, connectivity to Mohan Nagar from Dilshad Garden would also improve

Engineering Challenges

• The non – stop traffic on the GT road was a major challenge while constructing this section. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) carried out most of the construction activities and launching operations during the night for 4 to 5 hours.
• The section comprises of 695 U girders and 138 I Girders. Erection in an off-road portion at Hindon River was done during the day because the alignment and the station are off the road. With the above challenges, DMRC managed to launch 2 girders (which were precast) every night. The section also has 351 viaducts & station precast pier caps. It took about 500 days for completion.
• A workforce of about 1,000 people was deployed during this period for executing the work at a fast pace. Around 4 – 5 cranes of 350 – 500 tonnes capacity were used every night for this construction activity.
• 12 – 14 axle trailers were also used to especially transport the precast girders from the casting yard to the site every night. Each u-girder weighed around 162 tonnes.

Special design of the stations

• As mentioned earlier, the stations on this corridor are different from all other stations in the DMRC network. In this section, the station building is on both sides of the road and the platform is on the central verge along the viaduct i.e. the platforms are not a part of the station buildings but separate.
• The platforms are connected to each station building with the help of FOBs on either side except Hindon River station.
• All the stations have four levels – Ground, Concourse, Platform, and Roof. Only the Hindon River station has 5 levels including a lower ground level for parking.
• The Shaheed Nagar Station has only one station building on the side coming from Ghaziabad to Delhi & the other side is connected through lifts and staircase for commuters to reach from Road level to station building.
• At all stations (except Hindon River) FOB at concourse level comprises of paid and unpaid sections for the use of Metro commuters and general public respectively. At Hindon River station, the FOB is common for both Metro commuters and the general public.
• People who do not wish to use the Metro but want to use the FOB to cross the road can access the unpaid part of the FOB from the station building and reach the other side of the road.
• The length of the platform at all stations is 185 meters and its height from the ground level is generally about 13.5 meters.
• The height of all the FOBs from the ground level is in the range of 5.62 to 7.8 mtrs.
• All the stations are designed with disabled friendly features.
• All the stations have been built conforming to IGBC (Indian Green Building Certification)
• Public convenience facility has been provided at all the station buildings in the paid area.
• All the station buildings have at least 02 TOM counters with 01 counter located at a lower height for the facility of Divyang commuters.
• There are ventilation and natural light at all staircases and platforms.
• Parking will be made available for the general public at the Shaheed Nagar, Hindon River, and New Bus Adda stations.

Operation Plan Trains will be available at a peak hour frequency of six minutes and 12 seconds on the Dilshad Garden – New Bus Adda section. A total of 35 six coach trains will be used on the entire Rithala – New Bus Adda Red corridor. The total journey from Dilshad Garden to New Bus Adda will take about 16 minutes. Source: DMRC