Delhi: 22 travelators on 1.2km link between stations of 2 lines

From the first week of September, the journey to IGI will become easier from west and east Delhi, thanks to a 1.2km skywalk with 22 travelators that will connect Airport Express Line’s Dhaula Kuan station to Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus station of Pink Line (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar).

While the two stations are about a kilometre apart, commuters, especially those with luggage, would have found the walk arduous. It was DMRC managing director Mangu Singh who first suggested that a skywalk with travelators be built to connect the two stations.

While the South Campus station became operational in March, work on the connecting skywalk did not gain pace due to engineering and traffic challenges.

“Construction was challenging due to the presence of multiple 220 KV and 33 KV high-tension lines at almost all piers (pillars). Manual breaking of hard rock to erect piers was also time consuming,” said a DMRC spokesperson. “Water pipelines and high pressure gas lines are also present along the alignment and require constant monitoring,” he said.

The skywalk has a 1,015-metre RCC span and a 185-metre steel span. There are 11 RCC spans for the curve length of 205.8 metre.

“There was no room for diversion of utilities and so the work is being done manually in restricted spaces. Since these utilities are encountered at various depths and in varying configurations, foundation was redesigned at various locations to avoid these utilities,” the spokesperson said.

What compounded the challenge for DMRC is the fact that the Dhaula Kuan intersection is one of the busiest in the city. The skywalk is also in proximity to Sardar Patel Marg, which is usually taken by the dignitaries to reach the international and domestic airports and during such movements, the work is temporarily stopped.

The skywalk with travelators will connect South Campus station’s platform to the concourse level of Dhaula Kuan station. “It will be semi-covered with a curved roof and aluminum louvers from the sides with a glass railing,” the spokesperson said.