Delhi Metro Begins Installing Platform Screen Doors

After successfully testing a prototype, the Delhi Metro’s contractors last month began installing 288 half height Platform Screen Doors (PSDs) at 6 stations on the Yellow line! These 1.7 meter tall doors will act as a partition between the platforms & track area, and only open & close when a train arrives and departs. These PSDs are being installed to eliminate suicides and prevent accidents that may arise due to heavy passenger movement that is witnessed at the following stations:

1. Central Secretariat
2. Rajiv Chowk (Connaught Place)
3. New Delhi (Railway Station)
4. Chawri Bazaar
5. Chandni Chowk
6. Kashmere Gate

Spotted at New Delhi station:

Platform Screen Doors at New Delhi Station – Photo Copyright: Yogesh Aggarwal

Spotted at Chawri Bazaar station:

Video Copyright: Hemant Bhatia

The 83 crore contract to install the 288 PSDs for contract BS08 was awarded to a JV of NRT (a South Korean company) and Stone India in November 2013. NRT is a company that specializes in PSDs and they’ve previously installed them at various metro lines at Baku in Azerbaijan and at Incheon & Seoul in South Korea (see company history).

Work to create a functional prototype first began at NRT’s Korean facility in May 2014 following which a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) team made a 3 day site visit in November 2014. NRT was kind enough to document the team’s journey in a YouTube video which involved eating sumptuous ramen, travelling on one of the high speed rail lines and enjoying the view of the gentle, rolling hills 🙂 . During their spare time..ahem..visit to NRT’s facility, the DMRC team took part in a workshop to understand and get a demonstration on how the PSDs will function:

Prototype of a Platform Screen Door at NRT’s facility in South Korea – Photo Copyright: NRT

DMRC & NRT’s teams at NRT’s facility in South Korea – Photo Copyright: NRT

After that workshop, the action moved to Delhi where a working prototype was installed at DMRC’s test center in Chawri Bazaar (not the station) for further testing:

Platform Screen Doors at DMRC’s test center in Chawri Bazaar – Photo Copyright: NRT

PSDs at DMRC’s test center in Chawri Bazaar – Photo Copyright: NRT

Following successful tests, in December 2015 – the NRT-Stone India team began installing frames of the PSDs during non-revenue hours in the nights starting with the Chawri Bazaar station. The PSDs at all 6 yellow line stations or platforms are expected to start functioning by May 2016.

Unlike the full-height PSDs installed at the Airport Express line’ stations (see image), the ones installed on the Yellow line will feature LCD screens for displaying advertisements! Apart from this line, all stations on the new 58.596 km Pink and 38.235 km Magenta lines will also feature half height PSDs. The 3 contracts to install them valued at Rs 131.32 crores, Rs 98.71 crores and Rs 312.11 crores were given to a Japanese-Indian consoritum of KTK – AIKON in May 2015.

For more updates on Delhi Metro’s Phase III, please visit the Delhi section of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG