Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar
HOUSE FULL: The typical peak hour scene aboard Delhi Metro's Dwarka-Barakhamba Line 3 today. With the new Barakhamba-Indraprastha section coming up by September, things aren't going to get better. - PHOTO: V. V. KRISHNAN
NEW DELHI: Faced with an increasing number of complaints of overcrowding aboard Delhi Metro trains, especially during peak hours and at the two major interchange junctions of Connaught Place (Rajiv Chowk) and Kashmere Gate, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has pressed the alarm button and requested ROTEM of Korea to speed up manufacture and despatch of new coaches for the network.
But as things stand now, there is no hope of any more new coaches landing before January 2007. And to add to the problem, the metro ridership by then is expected to go up even further with the opening of the new 2.81-km Barakhamba-Indraprastha section of Line 3 in September this year. While the overall daily ridership of Delhi Metro today is about 5 lakhs, the three upcoming new stations of Mandi House, Pragati Maidan and Indraprastha on this new section have been designed for a total daily passenger volume of about 2.5 lakhs.
Delhi Metro Director (Rolling Stock and Electricals) Satish Kumar admits that there is a problem on hand. Claiming that ``things would be worked out'', he says plans are afoot to marginally increase the peak-hour frequency of trains on Line 3 by about a minute. ``We cannot increase the frequency further than that due to the shortage of trains.''
Since in the absence of new trains the authorities cannot increase the number of coaches on the existing trains or the frequency of trains very substantially, DMRC is now relying heavily on ROTEM to come to its rescue. While originally the despatch of the new coaches was to take place from April 2007 to August 2007, DMRC is pressing the Korean manufacturer to try and make the deliveries before January 2007. Even after the delivery, this rolling stock will have to go to Bharat Earth Movers Limited in Bangalore first for fitment and completion in all respects before it is ready for operations in Delhi.
But the crisis has thrown up a vital question. Why were orders for more coaches not placed earlier when it was known that more of them would be required for the fast expanding system? It is pertinent to note that when the Delhi Metro project was envisaged it was expected that the ridership on launch of Phase I would be around 23 lakhs. As against that, it is only about 5 lakhs at present, yet the Metro is unable to meet the rush.
Also, even today Bharat Earth Movers Limited is not fully competent to manufacture coaches for the Delhi Metro on its own. When the contract for designing, manufacture, supply, testing and commissioning of rolling stock consisting of 240 coaches was placed on a consortium comprising Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan, ROTEM of Korea and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan in May 2001, it was decided that 60 of the 240 coaches would be manufactured offshore and 180 in India with gradual indigenisation. However, five years on the process of indigenisation is not yet complete.
Meanwhile, to manage the rush aboard the trains, DMRC is planning an awareness campaign for passengers to learn how to enter and exit the coaches properly. ``The coach door is wide enough for four persons to enter and exit simultaneously and ideally passengers should exit the coach from the sides and enter from the centre,'' says Mr. Kumar.
It has been found that the problem of overcrowding in some coaches is more acute because passengers generally rush to board the coaches that are closer to the elevators, escalators and stairwells.
Also, the passengers on the platform do not wait for the on-board passengers to exit for fear that the stoppage is too short.
"However," points out Mr. Kumar, "the fact is that each train stops for around 20 seconds and since each coach has four wide doors there is ample time for everyone to enter and exit."
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