Witnessing a number of suicide cases in Delhi Metro stations, the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) — the transport body of Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) — has decided to install screen doors in all the stations of Rapid Rail to curb suicides as well as manage crowd in the upcoming stations. It is also known as the Platform Screen Doors (PSD).
Platform Screen Doors will be installed in these stations in the first phase: Sarai Kale Khan, New Ashok Nagar, Anand Vihar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, Murad Nagar, Modi Nagar South, Modi Nagar North, Meerut South, Partapur, Rithani, Shatabdi Nagar, Bramhapuri, Meerut Central, Bhaisali, Begumpul,
MES Colony, Daurli Metro, Meerut North and Modipuram. Besides these 22 stations, two others are depot stations — Duhai Depot and Modipuram Depot.
Although Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) have installed screen doors in the sections of Phase III but many stations that were constructed under Phase I and II do not have screen doors.
“A number of incidents of commuters falling on track by accident, trespassing on the railway track and even suicide cases by jumping in front of a train are being seen more often. Incidents of a metro moving with a commuter’s hand/leg or their luggage stuck between doors, sometimes even resulting in fatal cases, have also been reported. Thus, the main idea behind this PSD’s is create safety and security of the passengers,” said an NCRTC official.
The official further added that the Rapid Rail will be a high speed services with an operational speed of 160kmph. Though the trains will run frequency of 5-10 minutes but in this passengers safety is very important.
It has been noticed that suicide cases, passengers hand and legs stuck in the doors while boarding in a hurry. Thus, it’s the primary responsibility of any transport service provider to have adequate commuter safety measures in place. Commuter safety becomes all the more essential for RRTS as it would be the first time in the country.
“The Screen doors will not only provide safety measures but it will also act as a barrier between the platform and tracks and will facilitate safe and easy boarding and de-boarding of the trains. Besides helping in better crowd management on the platforms, the screen doors will also help to curb the untoward incidents such as jumping or falling on the tracks. Thus, it does not only help prevent suicides but also reduces the risk of accidents and stops miscreants from entering tunnels,” said the official. The PSDs are usually integrated with the signalling system to synchronise the opening and closing of the screen and the train doors at the same time.
Since the PSDs act as a barrier, their installation will enable trains to arrive and leave the station at greater speed besides reducing the time it takes to pick up and drop passengers.
In the first phase, the RRTS will be developed between Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut with Metro in Meerut. This Rapid Rail will cut the travel time to 60 minutes.
The civil construction work on the 17-km long prioritised section between Sahibabad and Duhai has started. Further, the preliminary works such as utility survey, geo-technical survey and tender for civil construction has also invited for the section from Ghaziabad to Meerut.
The 82 km long section will have 24 stations and the distance will be covered in around 55 minutes.
The RRTS originates from Sarai Kale Khan RRTS station in Delhi and ends at Modipuram (Meerut) in Uttar Pradesh.
But, the work in Delhi will only start after the Delhi Government accords it’s approval for the Sarai Kale Khan and other RRTS corridors such as Delhi-Gurugram and Alwar.
