Central Vista redevelopment: Underground transit to ferry 20,000 people in peak hours

A devoted transit system connecting the 10 buildings being constructed as a part of the brand new Central Secretariat advanced, itself a part of the continuing Central Vista redevelopment, will probably be accessible from the Central Secretariat Metro station and ferry as much as 20,000 folks throughout peak hours, holding a lot of the motion between the buildings underground, and in addition making it straightforward for commuters to transit to their workplaces from metro stations.

“The people mover will be accessible from the Central Secretariat Metro Station’s concourse level, which is an interchange for the Yellow and Violet lines. The people mover will be connected to the Central Secretariat buildings in the basement,” mentioned Bimal Patel, head of HCP Design, Planning and Management Private Limited, the advisor and architect for the Central Vista redevelopment mission.

A folks mover is a small scale transit system primarily used to serve a small space reminiscent of airports and parks. The feasibility research for the underground transit mission has been achieved, mentioned HCP Design. The folks mover could have coaches and run on electrical energy similar to the Metro, however the know-how it can run on is but to be labored out by Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the federal government’s development arm, and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

The two are additionally engaged on the alignment, know-how and the development particulars, mentioned the advisor. CPWD and DMRC officers declined remark.

Under the Central Vista mission, a typical Central Secretariat, a brand new Parliament House constructing, and residences of Prime Minister and vice-president will probably be constructed. The new Parliament constructing will probably be prepared by 2022. A portion of the brand new Central Secretariat, which can home workplaces of all central ministries, will probably be accomplished by 2023.

The deadline for completion of the complete mission is 2024.

The folks mover, a 3-km-long (roughly) underground transit facility was initially meant to hook up with two Metro stations — Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan however the latter was discovered to be infeasible as it isn’t an interchange station and its distance from the proposed folks mover hall is a matter.

While the folks mover will join all 10 buildings within the new Central Secretariat, which can home 51 ministries, it is not going to be linked to the brand new Parliament constructing.

The Central Secretariat metro station is likely one of the main interchange stations on DMRC’s community. The station offers interchange between the Yellow (Samaypur Badhi-HUDA metropolis centre) and Violet (Kashmere Gate-Raja Nahar Singh (Ballabhgarh) traces.

The 38-km-long Yellow line is the busiest and carried a median of 1.45 million folks a day earlier than the pandemic.

The folks mover could have 4 stations — one for each cluster of three buildings of the Central Secretariat.

“The buildings will be connected by an underground people mover and by an overground shuttle. These facilities will make the Central Secretariat a transit-oriented development. The plan is under development and will be finalised in coordination with all other projects being developed as part of the Central Vista Redevelopment,” mentioned Patel.

The cluster of three buildings will probably be linked to the station by a walkway with travellators within the basement to make sure protected, safe and seamless motion of individuals.

Traffic quantity within the Central Vista space will improve as soon as the redevelopment mission is full. Connectivity to the Metro is crucial as a result of 44% of individuals at the moment working in varied workplaces within the Central Vista use it, in accordance with a survey carried out by HCP. Apart from the folks mover, the capability of roads will even be elevated.

HCP desires to extend this proportion to 50% , which is the place the folks mover is available in. As for the site visitors, in accordance with HCP, it will likely be “be managed by providing increased road capacities, dedicated access lanes and better entry and exit to the Central Secretariat. The Central Secretariat is being planned to provide parking for visitors to avoid on-street parking prevalent today. There will be dedicated bus bays and taxi bays…”

Amit Bhatt, director transport at WRI India, mentioned the folks mover “is a good idea, but its success will depend on its integration with the existing transit system, including payment modes. Apart from providing alternative modes of public transport, it is important to put in place mechanisms to discourage the use of private vehicles… Just providing a public transport system is not enough…”