Ashram Metro Station - An Engineering Masterpiece

By Anuj Dayal, ED, Corporate Communications, DMRC

One of the main challenges of constructing a station in the Delhi Metro Network, especially in a busy and densely populated area, is designing it according to the ambience and the limited space allocated. Constructing the Ashram station not only challenged the technical finesse of DMRC’s architects, but also tested their experience and knowledge. Due to non-availability of land, which belonged to a private party, and other constraints that came up during the construction, the station box had to be redesigned and reduced considerably from 265 metres to 151 metres.

The DMRC architects and engineers, for the first time, completely redesigned the underground station, utilizing all three levels i.e. the Mezzanine, Concourse and Platform, to accommodate all the essential equipment, which are generally, placed only at Concourse and Platform levels of underground stations. This was done by reducing the length of the platform for relocating Ticket counters and Automatic Fare collection gates and shifting of Ancillary buildings and Ventilation Fan rooms vertically upwards. DMRC, thus, ensured that despite less space, the commuters got the same facilities and quality of service.