Delhi Metro making special arrangements for CWG

Delhi Metro Sunday said it was making special arrangements to facilitate passengers’ movement at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium station during the Commonwealth Games beginning Oct 3.

“We are making special arrangements at the Stadium Metro station from opening of the Games Oct 3 to closing ceremony Oct 14. The station will have five entry and exit structures so that public can access the station easily and extra staircases of much wider width are being provided so that more people can be accommodated easily,” Delhi Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal said.

“The staircase width, which is normally 2.4 metres in other stations, will be as much as 4.25 metres at the the Stadium Metro station to accommodate the extra rush. There will also be four escalators connecting the concourse with the platform,” he added.

According to Dayal, the station at the stadium can deal with a crowd of 4,000 passengers per minute in peak time and has been designed to accommodate a total traffic flow of 80,000 persons per hour in the platform area of 1,800 sq. metres.

There will be 20 automatic fare collection (AFC) gates instead of eight AFC gates normally provided at most stations.

“The operations department of the DMRC is preparing a special plan and procedure for clearance of commuters who will be coming for the opening and closing ceremony by Metro trains, with high frequency of Metro trains to ensure very fast clearance at the platform to avoid crowding,” he said.

“Volunteers and Sahayaks (helpers) will be posted to assist passengers at all the important points of the station such as the AFC gates, escalators, platforms and entry and exit points where first-time Metro users may face difficulty,” Dayal added.

A special control room will be established at the Stadium Metro station from where public announcements will be controlled and LED signs will be displayed for guidance of passengers.

Railings will be installed and there will be extra lighting for good visibility.

The Delhi Metro will provide easy Metro connectivity to 10 out of 11 venues of the Commonwealth Games 2010. These are the Games Village, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi University, Thyagaraj Complex, Siri Fort Sports Complex, National Stadium, Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Talkotora Indoor Stadium, Yamuna Sports Complex and R.K. Tennis Complex.