Commonwealth Games: More facilities at JLN stadium station to accommodate rush

Anticipating huge rush during the Commonwealth Games, the Delhi Metro is making special arrangements at the under-construction JLN Stadium station, like setting up additional fare collection gates and providing more volunteers to assist the passengers.

The station, which is adjacent to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, will have five entries and exits structures so that public can access the station easily and extra staircases of much wider width are being provided so that more people can be accommodated easily.

"The staircase width which is normally 2.4 metre in other stations will be as wide as 4.25 metres at JLN Stadium Metro station to accommodate the extra rush," DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said.

The special arrangements will be in place from the opening of the Games on October 3 till October 14. The station will also have four escalators connecting the concourse with the platform.

The JLN Stadium Metro station will be able to cater to 4,000 passengers per minute at peak time and the station has been designed to accommodate a total traffic flow of 80,000 persons per hour with a platform area of 1800 sq metres, he said.

There will be 20 Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates instead of eight AFC gates normally provided at most stations keeping in view heavy flow of traffic expected at the stadium, Dayal said. The station is part of the Central Secretariat-Badarpur line, which will be commissioned by September.

The operations department of the DMRC is preparing a special plan and procedure for clearance of commuters who will be coming for the opening and closing ceremony by Metro, with high frequency of trains to ensure very fast clearance at the platform to avoid crowding during the ceremony. He said volunteers and 'sahayaks' will be posted by the DMRC to assist passengers at all important points of the station such as AFC gates, escalators, platforms and entry and exit points where first-time Metro users may face difficulty.

A special control room will be established at the Metro station from where public announcements will be controlled and LED signages will be displayed for passenger guidance. Railings will be installed for guidance of passengers and extra lighting will be installed inside the station for good visibility.

The DMRC will also have special coordination with Delhi Metro Police and CISF to ensure adequate security for the public. The Delhi Metro will provide easy Metro connectivity to 10 out of 11 venues of the Commonwealth Games 2010.