The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have signed an MoU to indigenously develop platform screen doors for all upcoming mass rapid transit systems, regional rapid transit systems and high-speed rail projects in India.
The doors are intended to serve as a safety barrier between passengers on the platform and the train plus the track. NCRTC said in a statement that in addition to helping with better crowd management at stations, the doors will prevent people from falling or jumping onto the tracks.
Given high-speed train movements at rapid frequencies, NCRTC said it has planned to install platform screen doors at all the RRTS stations.
The development project is intended to bridge a void in local manufacturing of such doors which are currently being imported from other countries. NCRTC said that there “exists a huge demand for affordable platform screen doors in upcoming bus rapid transit systems (BRTS), Metro, Regional Rapid Transit Systems (RRTS) and high-speed rail projects. Existing metro systems are also realising the need to install platform screen doors for ensuring passenger safety.”
Under the agreement, BEL and NCRTC will design and develop the doors. The doors will also be made available for manufacturing overseas. The MoU was signed by Manoj Kumar, Executive Director (National Marketing), BEL and Navneet Kaushik, Director of Systems, NCRTC.
Vinay Kumar Singh, Managing Director of NCRTS expressed confidence that bringing such technologies to India “through the RRTS project” will trigger domestic capacity development.
“Indigenous development of platform screen doors is one such step towards realising the vision of an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat',” he added.