NMRCL Unveils New Airport & Khapri Stations’ Designs

First things first, India’s Metroman E. Sreedharan has agreed to join and deliver the keynote speech at the Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd’s first Foundation Day on February 18! This event at the Chitnavis Center would be an excellent learning opportunity for many and will hopefully inspire NMRCL’s team to deliver a quality system within or by the deadline of December 2019.

Coming back to the crux of this post, the NMRCL recently released the designs of 2 stations that will be built on the 4.5 km at-grade (ground) level of the 19.658 km north-south line (see map) where work is currently underway. The designs of these stations in NMRCL’s words aim to depict the cultural heritage of Nagpur and rural India.

New Airport Station

Nagpur’s New Airport Metro Station – Render Courtesy: Nagpur Today

This station will come up at the entrance to the future Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) project that has been on the back-burner since its inception in the early 2000’s. Even though the Special Economic Zone and Boeing’s MRO have been operational, the new terminal & cargo complex is no where to be seen.

This station’s glass dome takes inspiration from both the Deekshabhoomi and High Court buildings while its façade will comprise of sandstone procured from nearby town of Saoner that adorns the High Court & Nagpur Railway Station. Did you notice the solar panels on its roof? The NMRCL is going to install them atop of key stations, and the depot’s structure and boundary walls (see image) to generate 14 MW of electricity which is estimated to take care of 65% of the power requirements of the project.

Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur – Photo Copyright: Vaibhav Desai

Nagpur High Court – Photo Copyright: Deepak Nashine

Khapri Station

The Khapri station will serve as the southern terminal of the line and its design takes inspiration from Mumbai’s Bandra station which serves the Western & Harbor lines of the Indian Railways. The colonial design of this station will again sport sandstone procured from Saoner

Khapri Metro Station – Render Courtesy: Nagpur Today

The Historic Bandra station in Mumbai – Photo Copyright: NG111gala

While imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, I’m not a fan of replicating the design of existing structures as they can easily go horribly wrong with limited funds. Besides that, it doesn’t represent a real form of artistic expression which in recent history is yet to create a unique & iconic public structure in this part of the country.

Apart from these 2 stations, the NMRCL plans to build a 25 storey tower in the heart of Nagpur which will house the Sitabuldi interchange station. The tendering process for its design is currently underway and bids from architects will be opened on February 15.

For more updates on Nagpur’s Metro, check out the Nagpur section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG