Skywalk linking NDLS, Metro stns ready, likely to open by end of Feb
New Delhi: Taking public transportation to and from the New Delhi Railway Station is set to get a whole lot easier with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on Thursday announcing
that the new skywalk connecting the busy railway station nearby metro stations is ready and will soon be thrown open to the public.
Officials here said that with all work on the skywalk done, senior DMRC officials, including MD Mangu Singh, inspected it on Thursday with sources adding that members of the public can start using most likely by the end of February.
Significantly, the skywalk will connect the New Delhi Railway Station and its platforms to the Yellow Line of the Delhi Metro and also to the Airport Express Line, which has fast trains running to and from the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Officials said the newly constructed skywalk is an extension of the foot over bridge (FOB) inside the NDLS railway station and connects the Ajmeri Gate side of the station with the Delhi Metro stations. The skywalk also directly connects passengers to the multilevel parking across the Bhavbhut Marg and has multiple entry and exit points.
Throughout the skywalk, there are six escalators and it also has a ticketing counter for passengers. Officials added that in addition to public facilities like toilets, the skywalk is also dotted with CCTV surveillance cameras, signages and DMX-controlled autonomous lighting systems.
The escalators and stairs are integrated on the skywalk, like the one in Jantar Mantar with Agra Stone Cladding, officials said, adding that the main bridge and arms branching into the entry and exit points, escalators and underground lines are approximately 242 metres in length.
The DMRC has said that in addition to providing seamless interconnectivity between the railway station and metro station for passengers, the skywalk will also significantly help in streamlining the traffic flow on the Ajmeri Gate side of the NDLS.
The dedicated skywalk was built by the DMRC and the Northern Railway amid several challenges, officials said, explaining that it was particularly difficult to build the structure which is directly above a functional underground Metro station just three metres below and that too amid the pandemic.
