The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation scored a tricky architectural achievement by constructing an additional underground metro station at Central Secretariat bordering the existing station without disrupting train services, despite having to slice through the main wall of the present station to amalgamate the two stations.
The new station will act as a point for passenger interchange between Line 2 (Jehangirpuri-Central Secretariat) and the upcoming Line 6 (Central Secretariat-Badarpur) which will be commissioned in September.
DMRC officials said they were forced to cut the main wall which will now interconnect both stations at the concourse and platform levels as Line 6 was not sanctioned when work on Line 2 was completed.
A false wall has been erected to conceal the cuts made on the main wall for the interconnections and the work going on in the adjacent structure so that commuters are not affected in any way.
“When the new station opens, I am sure regular users of the station would be surprised to see another metro station here and the interconnections made between both,” said Kumar Keshav, Director (Project and Planning) at DMRC.
Mr. Keshav said the architectural challenge was to carefully support the load on the main wall of the present Central Secretariat station while cutting it and the simultaneous excavation of tunnels at a depth of 17 metres for the new station without affecting traffic on Rafi Marg passing directly overhead.
DMRC engineers said that 35 metres of the main wall of the present station had to be cut to make the interconnections with designers projecting a load of 105,000 kg per metre that would have to be supported.
They explained that with each slab that was cut, temporary structures were erected to support the wall with a stringent online load measurement system in place for continuous monitoring.
“The stations will be linked by two interconnections at the platform level and four at the concourse level. Passengers travelling between the two lines can easily interchange, thanks to this construction,” Mr. Keshav said.
Speaking to presspersons after giving them a tour of the new station, he said that a four car train would be placed on the Line 6 track on June 26 and trials on the Line would start between Central Secretariat and Lajpat Nagar in the first week of July with more stations being added as the trials progress.
