'Travelators' to bridge distance at interchange metro stations

NEW DELHI: Platform hopping is set to become easier at key interchange stations of Delhi Metro's upcoming Phase-III network with the introduction of travelators.

A total of 58 travelators, which is akin to a automated or moving walkway, are being installed at Dhaula Kuan and the upcoming Rajouri Garden and Punjabi Bagh stations on Line 7.

The 58-km-long Line 7 (Pink Line) would connect Mukundpur to Shiv Vihar with 38 intervening stations.

Although DMRC is constructing foot over-bridges (FOB) at all 11 interchange stations of the corridor, travelators are being constructed at places where a commuter has to travel more than 300 metres.

"For example the distance between the existing Dhaula Kuan station and the upcoming one that would provide connectivity to the South Campus station would be 920 metres which is close to 1 km," a metro official said.

The 7-metre-wide FOB would have a total of 26 travelators in this station.

Similarly, the distance between the Rajouri Garden station in Blue Line and the upcoming one in Pink Line is 310 metres. Here, the FOB would have a total of 10 travelators.

The 900-metre-long distance between the upcoming Punjabi Bagh (West) station and the existing Shivaji Park Metro station (Green Line) would also be bridged by 22 travelators.

The other stations which would also be having FOBs, minus travelators, in this corridor are Azadpur, Netaji Subhash Place, Mayur Vihar Phase 1, Welcome, Lajpat Nagar, Karkarduma and Kalkaji.