Dissertation Guidelines for the Redevelopment of Suburban Railway stations and Precincts in Mumbai Mandar Mallappanavar Student ID Number

4097515 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the regulation for the degree of Masters in the University of Nottingham. Master of Architecture in Technology, 2010

Acknowledgements Heartily thanks for my dissertation guides Philip Oldfield and David Nicolson to devout their valuable time and energy in guiding through my dissertation. Nonetheless, sincere thanks to my friends and family for being always supportive and encouraging.

Abstract The suburban train services in Mumbai are the life-line of the buzzing city. Majority of the people in Mumbai take public transport to reach work. The service is cheap, on time but not necessarily the most convenient. There is no good alternative to it. It is severely overburdened and requires sensitive and subjective upgrading along its length and reach. This dissertation wishes to provide key insights to the present situation and help analyse the various solutions been thought over before concluding upon what could possibly provide a better solution towards improvement of the station precincts in a more holistic manner. Case-studies presented in here will highlight the issues and the possible solutions thought over in Mumbai and abroad. A comprehensive situation will be put forth to state key insights which influence the planning of these key precincts to develop healthy densifications. The importance of framing flexible guidelines for development of stations and their areas on ground can eventually be very encouraging in having people to continue depend heavily on public transport rather than shifting onto more unsustainable modes of private transport in Mumbai, a fast developing city guiding India on a high growth trajectory.

Table of Contents
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. 7 List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. 9 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Mumbai - City of Dreams ................................................................................................... 10 Figure 1-1 Mumbai Metropolitan Region Map Source: (MMRDA, About MMR, 2011) .......... 10 1.1. The Life-Line: Mumbai Local .......................................................................................... 13 1.1.1. History of rail network in Mumbai .............................................................................. 14 1.1.2. Statistics ...................................................................................................................... 16 1.1.3. Major Issues ................................................................................................................ 17 1.2. Aim of the Dissertation .................................................................................................. 20 1.3. Dissertation structure .................................................................................................... 21 2. Urban Transport in Mumbai ............................................................................................... 23 2.1 Transport Policy for Mumbai ............................................................................................. 23 2.2 Public Transport Usage and Future Trends ....................................................................... 27 2.3 Mumbai Case-studies......................................................................................................... 36 2.3.1 Thane Rail Station ........................................................................................................... 36 2.3.2 Kanjurmarg Railway Station ............................................................................................ 40 3. Urban Transport for World Cities ....................................................................................... 44 3.1. Urban Rail Infrastructure .................................................................................................. 44

3.2 Case-studies ....................................................................................................................... 46 3.2.1 Stratford Station, London UK .......................................................................................... 46 3.2.2 Kyoto Rail Station, Japan................................................................................................. 54 3.2.3 Glazenberg Rail Station, Zurich, Switzerland .................................................................. 60 3.2.4 Bangkok Light Rail Stations ............................................................................................. 64 4. Conclusions- Design Guidelines for the Mumbai Rail Stations and Precincts ..................... 69 4.1 Rail Stations........................................................................................................................ 71 4.1.1 Internal Circulation ......................................................................................................... 71 4.1.2 Congregation of more functions ..................................................................................... 74 4.2 Station Precinct .................................................................................................................. 77 4.2.1 Station as a bridge .......................................................................................................... 79 4.2.2 Forecourts ....................................................................................................................... 80 4.3.3 External Spaces ............................................................................................................... 80 4.3 Sustainability ...................................................................................................................... 82 4.3.1 Densification ................................................................................................................... 82 4.3.2 Renewables ..................................................................................................................... 83 4.4 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 84 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 86

List of Figures
Figure 1-1 Figure 1-2 Figure 1-3 Figure 1-4 Figure 1-5 Figure 1-6 Figure 2-1 Figure 2-2 Figure 2-3 Figure 2-4 Figure 2-5 Figure 2-6 Figure 2-7 Figure 2-8 Figure 3-1 Figure 3-2 Figure 3-3 Figure 3-4 Figure 3-5 Figure 3-6 Figure 3-7 Figure 3-8 Figure 3-9 Figure 3-10 Figure 3-11 Figure 3-12 Figure 3-13 Figure 3-14 Figure 3-15 Figure 3-16 Figure 3-17 Figure 3-18

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Map Crowded Mumbai Suburban Trains Informal Industry in Mumbai Mumbai Suburban Rail Network Map
Old Churchgate Railway Station, Mumbai

Figure 4-1 Figure 4-2 Figure 4-3 Figure 4-4 Figure 4-5 Figure 4-6

Dadar Railway Station Area and Kurla Railway Station Area, Mumbai Mumbai Metropolitan area and transport corridors Distribution of One way Commute Distances Upcoming Mumbai Metro lines Location of Thane alongside Mumbai Skywalk , City Bus Station and Rail Station , Thane Location of Kanjurmarg Rail Station, Mumbai Kanjurmarg Station Area Skywalk at Kanjurmarg Station London Rail Network Location: Stratford Station Master plan for Stratford Station's Profile and Exploded view,Stratford Interiors of Stratford Station Present Stratford Station Area Location of Kyoto The Buildings South Facade, The Rail Platforms and the Atrium, Kyoto Rail Station Observation Deck and the Skywalk, Kyoto rail Station North Elevation, South Elevation, Section, Axonometric , Plan, Kyoto rail Station Spatial Organisation, Kyoto Rail Station Public Transport Lines, Zurich Plan, Glazenberg Rail Station Section and Elevation, Glazenberg Rail Station Location: Bangkok Typical Station for the Bangkok Light Rail Artist impression: Bangkok Light Rail Section through the Central Station, Bangkok light Rail Mumbai Stations: Office blocks above Vashi Station, Iconic Turbhe Station, Motorbike parking at Thane Station, Car parking on the roof of Khargar Station and Elevated bus station outside Thane Station Various ticketing options, Mumbai Suburban rail Typical Circulation patterns for Mumbai Rail Stations Proposed Circulation pattern for Mumbai Suburban Rail Stations Vashi Rail Station, Mumbai and Kyoto Rail Station London Bridge Station and Canary Wharf Station 7

9 11 11 12 14 18 25 30 32 34 35 39 40 41 45 47 48 50 50 51 53 54 54 56 57 59 60 61 63 64 64 66

68 71 72 75 74 77

Figure 4-7 Figure 4-8 Figure 4-9

Croydon Station, London Planning of station forecourts PV imbedded canopy outside the Woking Rail Station, London

78 81 82

List of Tables
Table 1-1 Table 1-2 Table 2-1 Table 2-2 Table 2-3 Table 2-4 Table 2-5 Table 2-6 Table 2-7 Table 2-8 Table 2-9 Table 3-1 Table 3-2 Table 3-3 Table 3-4 Table 3-5 Table 3-6 Table 4-1

Spatial Distributions in Mumbai Metropolitan Region Major Urban Rail Networks Population in Mumbai Metropolitan Region Household Characteristics by Income groups, Mumbai Percentage distribution of Housing units across the zones, by income levels, Mumbai No.of commuters using the south bound services during morning rush hours on Western (left) and Central Railways, Mumbai Percentage Distribution of Workers across Job Locations by Zone of Residence, Mumbai Mean one way commute distance by Zone and Income levels, Mumbai Commutes by different modes for different purposes, Mumbai SWOT analysis, Thane Station and its Precinct. SWOT Analysis, Kanjurmarg Station Components of rail network, London SWOT Analysis, Stratford Station SWOT Analysis, Kyoto Railway Station
SWOT Analysis, Glazenberg Railway Station

10 15 24 29 29 30 31 31 33 38 42 46 52 57 62 63 67 80

Train transport in Bangkok

SWOT Analysis, Bangkok Light Rail Stations

Station Types in Mumbai

1. Introduction
1.1 Mumbai - City of Dreams

Figure 1-1 Mumbai Metropolitan Region Map Source: (MMRDA, About MMR, 2011) 10

Mumbai is often considered as the financial capital of India. It is also the most progressive of all Indian cities, housing approximately 18.9 (MMRDA, About MMR, 2003) million people across its metropolitan area. The city gained increasing amount of importance due to its sea-port which led to the foundation of various industries, primarily textile mills. It soon became the biggest trading hub in the Indian sub-continent and in 1875; Asias first stock exchange was established in the city (BSE, 2011). Although the city may be considered the richest in India but 38% of its population lives in sub-standard informal housing because the developable land has been always very scarce and has led to very dense conurbations. Mumbais Metropolitan Region covers an area of 4355 sq.km under 7 Municipal Corporations having their own mayors. There are several villages and lesser towns in the region too. (MMRDA, About MMR, 2003)

Table 1-1. Spatial Distributions in Mumbai Metropolitan Region Source: (MMRDA, About MMR, 2011)

The reasons which attract people from the rest of India to Mumbai are many. The most notable ones are: 1. Mumbais informal sector accounts for 68% of the total employment where the unskilled migrants earn bare minimum wages while continuing to live in Mumbais several slums (Srivastava, 2005).

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Figure 1.2. Mumbais Informal www.flickr.com/photos/pukarmumbai/collections

Sector

Source:

Figure 1-2 Crowded Mumbai Suburban Trains Source: Multiple

2. Public transport comprising of suburban rail and buses which serves 86% of its urban population as it is one of the cheapest way to commute within the city (Larkin, 2006).

Figure 1-3. Informal Industry in Mumbai Source: multipple

Mumbai primarily is dependent on its public transport and its ambitious, under-privileged, restless populace know best to make a living by risking it while making the most of the available resources which the overwhelming city is believed to offer. May it be electricity, water, transport, employment and housing (MMRDA, About MMR, 2003)!

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1.1.

The Life-Line: Mumbai Local

In Mumbai, millions of aspirations are kept afloat and it is largely possible because of the public transport. Mumbais Suburban rail services are extensively used and the roads leading to the rail stations bustle with much activities. The present land mass is built by reclaiming low lying lands and upon which is built a dense city which houses all classes of the society and offers them means of livelihood.

Figure 1-4. Mumbai Suburban Rail Network Map Source: Author

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The system is fed mainly by Suburban rail and buses. These services are cheap and are most preferred by the middle income groups (Baker, Basu, Cropper, Lall, & Takeuchi, 2005). The amount of activities which revolve around the nodes of public transport can be best understood in this city. Suburban rail services are also called the local trains. They serve the entire length of the island city and the metropolitan areas beyond. It plays a pivotal role in providing mass rapid transport quite efficiently and all inclusively. These rail services are wide spread, extensively used, fairly punctual, and very economical and rightfully act as lifelines for the city of Mumbai. It also extends its services for transporting goods such as vegetables, fish and other commodities. The scope of railways in connecting the entire length of the city was always been prioritised and kept in mind while developing the satellite townships around the Island. Dombivli, Kalyan, Ulhasnagar, Mira Road, Bhayander are such satellite towns and they depend primarily on the local trains. Similarly, the new satellite township and the worlds biggest planned city Navi Mumbai was also well augmented within the current rail network. 1.1.1. History of rail network in Mumbai Indian railways history dates back to the middle of 19th century. The first ever train, chugged into the Worlds east and it ran the stretch between Mumbai and Thane. This 21 miles stretch now is only a small part of the several other busiest train routes in India and falls under the Central Railways zone, a public enterprise (TIFR, 1997). Trains as a mode of transport was primarily thought over for ease of transporting goods during the British Raj. The city of Mumbai was fast gaining importance due to its port. The opening of Suez Canal added greater importance to the Mumbai port. The Bombay Baroda 14

and Central Indian Railway Company was founded in the year 1855 to undertake the laying of tracks along the west coast and reach to Surat, a city which had become important for its textile
Figure 1-5. Old Churchgate Railway Station, Mumbai Source: Indian Memory Project Blog

mills.

It

took

another 12 years for the

same company to commence the first suburban train services between Virar, a far off suburb and a station near to the Mumbai port. The first rail line between Mumbai and Thane was further extended to Pune over the western mountain ranges by the year 1863. These two lines run in the north-south direction, one along the west coast and the other along the east coast of the Island city. The line serving the west coast of Mumbai was extended till New Delhi and is currently called the Western Railway. Whereas the line which was built till Thane and later extended to Pune was consequently joined to serve the rest of India. This line later became part of the biggest and busiest rail zone in India, i.e. the Central Railway Zone. The early 20th century saw the growth of textile mills in Mumbai and sooner was the harbour line laid in 1925. It connected the east of the city to the west while passing across the several textile mills and warehouses and ultimately to the port in the east. The electrification of these three lines soon followed up. The two main lines, the central line and western line services were upgraded and extended much beyond the island city and the harbour line connecting east and west coast was further extended to feed the suburbs of New Mumbai (TIFR, 1997). 15

1.1.2. Statistics Currently, the suburban network stretches far up to the north and east in the mainland towards other two major cities of Maharashtra, Pune and Nashik. Mumbai suburban rail services are managed by Mumbai Rail Vikas (Development) Corporation, established under Indian Railways. This unit only overlooks the rail operations and projects sanctioned by the central government and have no autonomy to raise funds for upgrading and building new lines on its own and it is only recently been mooted to give more autonomy to the suburban railway units in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkatta (Aklekar, 2009). Following is a quick comparison of the MRT systems across the worlds major cities:
Table 1-2. Major Urban Rail Networks Source: Multiple

Parameters

Tokyo

Mumbai 21.25

New York 20.61

Shanghai 18.40

London 8.58

Population in 35.20 Millions Area in sq.km Density sq.km Rail Lines System Length Stations Ridership 282 8.7 13 328.8 8677

4355 4880

11264 1800

2914 6300

1623 5100

per 4100

3 450

24 337

11 424.8

21 550

120 6.95

468 5.09

273 7.09

427 3.5

The above table indicates that although the population in London is least amongst all the cities, it has much system length which translates that the public transport system is very equipped and at the same time the least number of stations in Mumbai hint that most its 16

population stays away from the stations and the city needs more rail corridors to weave through its metropolitan area. 1.1.3. Major Issues Network - Mumbai suburban rail services are crumbling under much commuter loads. This has made the train travel increasingly inconvenient and unsafe. The reason for such overcrowding is primarily due to the way the network is laid. The two main lines which carry most number of people runs along the north and south direction because the southern tip is where the CBD is located and the suburban area in north is where most people prefer to live. The journeys during the peak hours are hence insanely crowded. The average capacity of a 9 car train is 1980 but it ends up carrying up to 4365 people during the rush hour, that is more than twice the trains capacity (Costa, 2011). There are many casualties recorded due to people falling off the trains during the morning and evening rush hours. The causalities reported from 2008-10 stands at a staggering figure of 1974 (Natu, 2011). The network is heavily burdened because there are no alternative modes of public transport to cover such long distances. The rail network although runs into 450 km, it barely overlaps itself cause most of the interchange stations are located on the parallel running lines and not the lines which would take the commuters onto the major rail lines. The Western and Central Rail lines are the major ones and there are only two interchange stations on them i.e. Elphinstone Road and Dadar. There are several projects been announced to strengthen the existing rail lines i.e. adding more pairs of tracks on busy routes, running more services and longer trains but these projects are taking too long to get commissioned and when they do get completed their effect seems to be negligible (Costa, 2011). 17

Rail Station Areas - The suburban rail being the only mode of transport to offer mobility from the north to southern tip, the stations in the suburbs are experiencing some major circulation issues due overcrowding and assemblage of much informal activity within the station areas. The station buildings at major stations are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with increasing number of commuters. The rail bridges are narrow and few to help commuters enter and exit the platforms (Bhagat, 2011). More deaths are reported near the station areas as many commuters are run over by trains as they cross the tracks and not use these crowded foot-over bridges or subways to reach their platforms. Some 20,700 deaths were reported during 2003-2007 (Narayan, 2008). The station areas outside the station building are experiencing acute problems of congestion due to poor intermodal connections. Most these stations have no space for bus stations. Buses also have to fight the narrow roads with cabs and rickshaws. These station areas have no public sidewalks and in case they are there they are too narrow and usually occupied by hawkers. The areas also have mostly dilapidated built environments surrounding them and most being old, their ownership rights are sketchy and hence to bring them and rehabilitate people and businesses is a challenge.

Figure 1-6. Dadar Railway Station Area (Left) and Kurla Railway Station Area (Right),Mumbai Source: Google Earth

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In the figure 1-6, on the left hand side is the Dadar station. It is the only interchange on the major Central and Western line and undoubtedly the busiest but it has no bus stand outside its station building. Same is the case with the Kurla station (Right), another busy interchange station. Both these stations have dense built environments around them and the traffic situation is gruesome. The foot-over bridges are not wide enough and open into areas intruded by informal vendors, leaving little room for safe pedestrian movement. The situation is very similar at most other old station areas on the Mumbai suburban rail network and needs some major decongestion and effective management of traffic.

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1.2.

Aim of the Dissertation

This dissertation will try to highlight the major issues faced by the rail transport in Mumbai and state reasons for it. It would then try to propose a frame work to set up a set of guidelines for the design and management some key station areas in Mumbai Metropolitan area by analysing them through series of photo-mapping and carrying out general commuter surveys. Various books, journals, manuals and online pdfs related to rail networks, their station design and management have been referred to derive some key guidelines, specific to the improvement of rail Stations and their precincts especially to suit the situation prevalent in Mumbai. Following are some research questions the dissertation would try to answer: What are the major criticisms of the suburban rail services in Mumbai? What is the state of built environment in and around the rail stations in Mumbai? What can be done to overcome these architectural and planning issues? Can a set of guidelines be followed for achieving better built environments in and around the suburban rail stations in Mumbai? In order to investigate that, case-studies of a few rail stations in Mumbai and one from the cities of London, Zurich and Kyoto are being undertaken to help draw some parallels to propose the guidelines.

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1.3.

Dissertation structure

To be able to propose a set of guidelines for the effective management of the Suburban Rail stations in Mumbai, herewith is the dissertation structure to give its brief idea: Chapter 1: Importance of Suburban rail Network in the city of Mumbai. This chapter primarily introduces the Suburban rail network and its becoming the backbone of Mumbais Public transport system. Its history of the services and its future up-gradation plans are discussed. The chapter then depicts the current situation and highlights the various criticisms for the rail network. Chapter 2: Urban Transport in Mumbai The transport policy framed for city of Mumbai is discussed and is mentioned how it is been implemented so far. It lays it emphasis on whether the policy initiated for the services upgradation has been able to live upto its expectations and is able to cater the demands of a rising population and the growing urban sprawl. This has been put to explanation by having to present case-studies of the stations on the old and newly built corridors. Chapter 3: Urban Transport for world Cities This chapter will put forward the context of some major and minor stations across the world for example Londons Stratford Station, the Kyoto Railway station, Bangkoks Light rail system designed by London based BDP architects and a suburban station in Zurich. The context of these stations would be duly drawn to solve some architectural and planning issues witnessed in Mumbai.

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Chapter 4: Conclusions, Guidelines towards responsive planning and management of the rail stations in Mumbai. The concluding chapter will propose a set of guidelines or a framework to facilitate better management of the station areas which will ultimately encourage greater dependency on the suburban rail systems and at the same time promote sustainable development in the city of Mumbai along its suburban rail corridors. The guidelines would also cater to the development of the upcoming as well as the existing rail station precincts in Mumbai.

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2. Urban Transport in Mumbai

2.1 Transport Policy for Mumbai The Greater Mumbai region is spread across 468 sq. Km and is home to 11.9 million people (MMRDA, About MMR, 2003). It indicates of a very high population density. The density is much higher due to the location of a 104sq.km protected wildlife park which actually acts as natural boundary between the western and central suburbs. In addition to this much of the eastern coast of Mumbai is land locked due to the location of the Mumbai port. An area of prime value, measuring 7.25sq.km is under the port trust. In addition to this during the 1980s, the textile mills which were the major employers for people in Mumbai were shut and were sitting on 2.5sq.km of land (SGNP, 2007) (Sonawane, 2007) (BBC , 2006). This leaves the island city of Mumbai with mere 359.25 sq.km of land which results on an average density of 33125 people/ sq. Km. It is the most crowded city in the world (City Mayors, 2007). It is the location and topography of the land which has made it difficult for the city to grow physically as the Arabian Sea surrounds it on three sides and a creek which separates the land mass from the mainland in the north. The city was developed into 6 zones and later into numerous wards for administrative purposes as follows (Baker, Basu, Cropper, Lall, & Takeuchi, 2005) (See figure 2.1 and Table 2.1): Zone 1- It is the old business district and is located at the southern tip and consists mainly of offices.

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Zone 2 It was the manufacturing hub during the most of 20 th century with its numerous textile mills and also had much of the small housing units to accommodate the textile mill workers. Zone 3 It was later developed to serve as commercial and employment centre by setting up various industrial estates and belts. The zone has a major residential housing stock provided by the public government bodies and private property developers. Zone 4-6 They were later added to accommodate rising population of Mumbai and some heavy engineering but largely non-polluting industries were set up alongside residential areas. The linear networks of Public owned Central Railway and Western Railway connect all these zones are extend much further beyond the satellite townships of Mira Road, Bhayander (Western), Thane, Kalyan, Dombivli and Ulhasnagar (Central Line) and New Mumbai (Harbour line, a part of Central Railway). The harbour line is the only line which offers limited east to west connectivity but mostly runs along the linear north-south direction before turning east to cross over wider creek onto the main land. Apart from the rail lines there are 4 arterial roads, again running linear which connects the greater Mumbai region. The east-west connections are yet to be widened. From the above table it can be seen that the change in population between the years, 1991 and 2001 for the dense island of Mumbai was not more than 14.38%. Whereas the population in the other major urban areas of the Mumbais Metropolitan areas grew by almost 90% with New Mumbai recording highest rise in population.

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Table 2-1 Population in Mumbai Metropolitan Region Source: Multiple

Zone Ward Area Land (sq.km ) 1 1 A B Colaba Sandhurst Road 1 1 1 2 C D E F Marine Lines Grant Road Byculla Parel Matunga 2 G Dadar Elphinston 3 H Santacruz Bandra 3 4 K P Andheri Goregaon Malad 4 R Kandivli Borivli 5 5 6 6 6 L M N S T Kurla Chembur Ghatkopar Bhandup Mulund Average Thane Kalyan Dombivli Mira Road & Bhayander New Mumbai Ulhasnagar Average 163 27.54 0 273668 0 13401 318447 369077 1077 13401 0 34.9 703947 472343 3192 17172 196.3 28.2 89.62 88.75 0 0 175605 3588 0 520301 7931 121.1 & 128.23 137.15 474366 578353 3699 4217 803389 820089 6265 5980 69.4 41.8 1261517 1193266 9838 8700 15.9 52 26 64 45.4 433913 565760 599436 297108 203899 27290 10880 23055 4642 4491 616592 822916 507329 568028 288158 38780 15825 19513 8875 6347 42.1 45.5 -15.4 91.2 41.3 778218 1088890 619556 691227 330195 48945 20940 23829 10800 7273 26.2 32.3 22.1 21.7 14.6 14.38% 57 45.5 & 68 561919 8264 977881 14381 74 876884 12895 -10.3 & 48.2 36.9 925685 663742 19205 17988 1242683 928693 25906 25168 34.9 39.9 1510682 1234624 31342 33459 21 32.9 & 25.1 706837 28161 798722 31822 13 918226 36583 15 & 19.1 982988 51465 959800 50251 -2.4 1039938 54447 8.4 & 1.8 6.6 7.4 27 270706 445391 455711 814706 15039 67484 61583 30174 197288 401548 410824 847823 109604 60841 55517 31401 -27.1 -9.8 -9.9 4.1 202922 382841 440355 920515 112734 58006 59507 34093 2.9 -4.7 7.2 8.6 12.8 2.5 168288 147313 13148 58925 194844 117722 Populati on (1981) Density (/sq.km) Populati on (1991) Densit y(/sq.k m) 15226 47089 15.8 -20.1 210847 140633 16472 56253 8.2 19.5 Change (%) Populati on (2001) Density (/sq.km) Change (%)

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Figure 2-1 Mumbai Metropolitan area and transport corridors Source: Multiple

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Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has majorly been a residential area and most industries and offices have established themselves in the Island cities and only lately they are setting up in the fringes of the island and closer to the mainland metropolitan areas. MMR is constituted of 7Major Municipal Corporations which are as follows: 1. Greater Mumbai 2. Thane 3. Kalyan-Dombivli 4. New Mumbai 5. Ulhasnagar 6. Mira-Bhayander 7. Bhivandi- Nizampur These Municipal areas are primarily connected by the suburban rail network except Bhiwandi Nizampur area. New Mumbai is the latest satellite township which currently has the least population density because of the various developmental restrictions. The area is undergoing major developments and the dynamics is all set to change by the construction of a New International Airport and various commercial and work clusters alongside residential complexes. 2.2 Public Transport Usage and Future Trends Although in a booming city of Mumbai it is not to be forgotten that its caters largely to the people who have migrated to it for availing best of opportunities the city delivers to enable them to secure a better livelihood. It hence becomes important to analyse the migration patterns to a city like Mumbai so as to accommodate the influx of people and more

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importantly provide them with means to livelihood. The transport facilities can likely enable the less privileged ones to avail affordable living conditions in areas beyond the city fringes and the case of Mumbai is befitting this scenario. It is also certain that this leads to longer commutes and ultimately incurs higher costs to provide transport systems and avail them (UNHABITAT, 2003). However, the public transport can be subsidised to target the lower income groups and to ascertain that it becomes increasingly important to map the dynamic patterns of transport modes for their usage availed by different classes of people in a particular society. Unfortunately such patterns are yet to be established (Godard & Olvera, 2000). There is little to be doubted upon the less privileged ones would want to spend the least on travelling and would prefer to walk most distances for availing his/her needs of housing and livelihood. Following are some key evidences for the spatial distribution found around the transport nodes in Mumbai (Baker, Basu, Cropper, Lall, & Takeuchi, 2005): In most areas it is found that the lower income groups live in close proximity to areas habited by middle class and rich people but it is also found that more lower income groups live in eastern suburbs although the area has limited access to modes of public transport and employment opportunities. The lower income groups commute shorter distances and prefer to live closer to their place of work as the fares account for a larger portion of their marginal incomes. The areas farther away from the train stations are preferred by lower income groups to avail for their housing needs because of the higher land prices near the train stations. 28

The lower income groups increasingly prefer walking or cycling to commute for their work and other needs. The poor accounted for sixty six percentages of journeys made by walking and cycling whereas only a quarter of percent journeys were made using these two modes by the middle and higher income groups in Mumbai.

The poor accounted for 17% of all train journeys and 19% of all bus journeys made in Mumbai.

In order to formulate a comprehensive transport policy various feasibility reports were made and it was felt that a thorough survey be carried out of the public transport users in the city of Mumbai to be specific as it was the densest area in the whole metropolitan. World Bank presented in one of its report how a particular class of society in Mumbai makes use of the public transport. The outcome of this report must have helped framing of a transport policy for the city. The report has categorised the population depending upon their income levels. The findings of the report are discussed under with the help various tables. The table no. 2-2 indicates the majority of people live Squatter settlements or Chawls where the unit sizes are very small and has led to some very dense settlements. Such dense areas cause major hurdles for their redevelopment because to accommodate such high densities and ensure better living standards for them is only possible in high-rise buildings which can quite expensive to build and maintain.

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Table 2-2 Household Characteristics by Income groups, Mumbai Source: (Baker, Basu, Cropper, Lall, & Takeuchi, 2005)

Following is the table which highlights the number of households in various zones of Mumbai depending upon their income levels and it can be seen that the zone three houses people belonging to all income levels quite equally.
Table 2-3 - Percentage distribution of Housing units across the zones, by income levels, Mumbai Source: (Baker, Basu, Cropper, Lall, & Takeuchi, 2005).

In the later figure 2-2, is a chart showing most earning members of a family are commuting only between 1-2kms in one direction and on an average most earning members travel only 5.3kms in one way which can be considered quite healthy for any city but this chart may simply contradict the amount of load the train services cater when they carry 6.7 million people every day on linear routes panning across several kilometres (MRVC, 2010). It can 30

only be judged that most people living in the satellite townships are depending on suburban trains for their commute to work. The table 2-4 simply confirms that most people using the trains stay in places beyond the greater Mumbai district. In the table the black line indicates the
Figure 2-2 Distribution of One way Commute Distances. Source (Baker, Basu, Cropper, Lall, & Takeuchi, 2005)

places above the line are out of Greater

Mumbai District.
Table 2-4 No.of commuters using the south bound services during morning rush hours on Western (left) and Central Railways. Source: (Baker, Basu, Cropper, Lall, & Takeuchi, 2005)

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In table 2-5, it can be seen that there are very few places of work in zone 4 and 6, zones which are at the districts fringes and hence it can be justified that more people living in these zones are required to commute to places far away from their homes.

Table 2-5 Percentage Distribution of Workers across Job Locations by Zone of Residence Source: (Baker, Basu, Cropper, Lall, & Takeuchi, 2005)

Consecutively it can be seen in the table 2-6 that the higher income groups are found to be taking longer commutes for the reason that they avail themselves better housing stocks which are much bigger and can only be afforded in the areas away from the traditional business districts.

Table 2-6 Mean one way commute distance by Zone and Income levels Source: (Baker, Basu, Cropper, Lall, & Takeuchi, 2005)

This trend highlights that the higher income groups who are required to spend longer times for their commutes to work prefer the express trains which takes very few stops at only key 32

stations. Important lessons can be learnt from these figures is that if more faster express trains are made to run during peak hours then it may result in much less overcrowding of trains and it also hints that in such a scenario a metro train, BRTS, trams may prove helpful only if they run along the width of the city unlike the present rail corridors. Fortunately, the new metro corridors are being planned to provide such west to east connectivity.

Figure 2-3 Upcoming Mumbai Metro lines Source: MMRDA

In addition to this another pair of tracks are being built parallel to the existing two pairs of suburban rail tracks to be able to dedicate two pair of tracks solely for suburban traffic (MRVC, 2010). However the biggest challenge for the laying of parallel tracks in zone 2 and later into zone 1 is that there is hardly any space.

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However, it is also to be noted that there are various other reasons which requires people to travel apart from work and the following table highlights that. It can be seen that trains commutes are frequent for carrying out other activities such as reaching for schools/ colleges, meeting friends, relatives or colleagues working and staying elsewhere.

Table 2-7 Commutes by different modes for different purposes, Mumbai Source: (Baker, Basu, Cropper, Lall, & Takeuchi, 2005)

In order to fulfil other activities, the station areas can play an important role in delivering some of the functions stated in the above table. Unfortunately, major shopping areas are in locations away from the main station areas. For e.g the Inorbit Mall, Phoenix Mall, Thakur Mall, Nirmal Lifestyle Mall, R Mall who with their big car-parks cater the high income groups who prefer to take their own vehicles, taxis or rickshaws to reach them. The station buildings in Mumbai are run by Indian Railways, a national company and not by a local transport authority similar to Transport of London. This makes it difficult to carry out station redevelopment projects in a comprehensive way. The built environment around the station building too remains old and with sketchy ownerships, coupled with heightrestrictions and limited use of FARs (as low as 1.33) available in the suburbs, the commercial exploitation of the station precincts is very limited (Phatak, 2000) (Bertaud & Brueckner, 34

2004) (Bertaud, 2004). From the above tables it can also be noted that the present public transport system is failing to attract the poorer sections of the society and is instead becoming a cause for urban sprawl because the existing rail corridors are being extended much in the metropolitan areas. For. e.g. the rising demand for suburban services on the western line from the satellite townships in the far north (Deshmane, 2010). Hence in order to achieve equity amongst masses of the people, integration of the available transport systems is needed. Investing in more feasible modes of transport such as light rail, trams, and buses and largely by augmenting the available modes of mass rapid transport such as the Mumbais suburban rail network, should be preferred. The suburban rail system needs a good alternative and systems such as elevated and underground metro, monorails can come to much rescue. Their loops within the Greater Mumbai District can ensure much increase in the value of overall land area and open-up new avenues for the development of areas which were served inadequately by transport linkages and also push the way for gentrification of some old and derelict areas of the city. The increase in land values and their subsequent usage for creating better built environments can ensure the cycle of growth to seek much momentum and result in achieving more sustainable growth targets. Following are case-studies of two rail stations on the Mumbai Suburban Train network which are witnessing much redevelopment.

35

2.3 Mumbai Case-studies 2.3.1 Thane Rail Station Thane is the most populous satellite city just of Mumbai. The city has an area of 147 sq.kms and its population is 1.26 million (Census 2001) and is part of Borivli the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The city is under the jurisdiction of Thane Municipal Corporation and Greater Mumbai has its own Mayor. The city lies just north to the edge of Greater Mumbai. It has witnessed major urban sprawl in the last 20 years as major roads were built

Figure 2-4 Location of Thane alongside Mumbai Source: Google Earth

in areas away from the station. The Ghodbunder road is one such road (white line in the above figure) which connects the city to Borivli, the western Mumbai suburb Island of and greater major

residential complexes have been built on either sides of this road. These areas are quite far away from any in suburban the railway Mumbai

stations
Figure 2-5 Thane Station and it precinct Source: Google Earth

Metropolitan Region.

36

The station is an interchange for the Main Central line and the Harbour line. The station also caters to the inter-city train services and is considered to be one of the most important stations in the metropolitan area. The station contains 10 platforms. There are two foot over bridges to connect these platforms.

Figure 2-6 Skywalk (Left), City Bus Station (Middle) and Rail Station (Right), Thane Source: Author

The station also offers 2 intra-city bus stations and one inter-city bus terminus. These bus stations are easily accessed from the rail station. Recently, the area on the north of the station was redeveloped to link the intra-city bus station at an elevated level next to the station building. The commuters exiting out of the stations from the foot over bridges can directly access this bus station. This required major ramps to be built to guide the bus traffic. The ramps built are only for the city buses. The streets leading to the station are also been provided with skywalks which help commuters to access the station with ease while avoiding the chaotic situations on the ground level. Within the station building, the 10 platforms are currently served by mere 2 foot bridges which were constructed decades ago and are not sufficient to handle the crowds. Many

37

people have met fatal accidents while crossing the railway tracks. The trains are becoming longer and are carrying more passengers but the number of foot bridges has remained same. The prospects of providing an underpass at the same points where these bridges originate and terminate can solve the overcrowding at these entry and exit points. Outside the station building, the elevated deck built to make space for the bus station is not covered and can cause much inconvenience during the monsoons. The island bays for the buses are difficult to access and can cause accidents. The whole idea of an elevated bus station could have been avoided by better regulation of traffic on the ground level. Also, once it was decided to build the elevated bus station, the air rights could have been used to build a multi level shopping complex adding more vitality to the station. Although the traffic situation has improved considerably but the time it took to construct this elevated deck did greatly inconvenience the commuters. The built environment around the station area is old and makes the already congested station area unpleasant. The long skywalks provide very few access points from the ground level and hence are found to be used by very few people even during the peak hours because provision of the city bus station right outside the train station doesnt require the commuters to use the skywalk. The station area has very few residential buildings apart from the railway-employees apartments which further west to the platforms on the north side. Most of the buildings house small shops, restaurants and businesses. The vegetable market is also not within the walkable distance from the station. There is a cinema hall in the vicinity of the station but is old and doesnt screen popular or critically acclaimed movies. The lake as you can see in the

38

in the station area is also not used for any recreational purposes. In all there are no major amenities within the Station area apart from bus stations. The station is a starting point for many suburban train services on both the lines and caters to huge crowds throughout the day. The city with a million plus population depends heavily on just one station. Provision of convenient access points to the station building with wider foot bridges, underpasses for pedestrian movements is very important. Creating more facilities such as shopping malls, open air markets, theatres and open spaces at the ends of the skywalks can lead to major regeneration of the area. Also most buildings in the area are mid rises and are smaller floor-plates. They can all be integrated together creating more open spaces around the station. The scope of a building similar to the Kyoto railway station (discussed in the next chapter) can add much value to the station and make the area more attractive.
Table 2-8 SWOT analysis of the Thane Station and its Precinct Source: Author

Strenghts

The elevated deck for the bus station has greatly reduced traffic congestion.

Weaknesses

The foot-over-bridges are too narrow to be able to cater 10 platforms. The station precinct is surrounded by low-rise buildings of smaller floor plates and adds congestion to the area.

Opportunities

The interchange station can make use of the air-space and accommodate more functions there and pave the way for decongestion of the station area.

Threats

The Population is bound to increase alot and in that case the station would buckle under rising passenger loads.

39

2.3.2 Kanjurmarg Railway Station Kanjurmarg is a small suburb on the eastern shore of Greater Mumbai. It is served by a very small railway station served by the Major Central Line. The station area is witnessing major development because of the strengthening of a road-link between eastern and western Suburbs.

Figure 2-7 Location of Kanjurmarg Rail Station, Mumbai Source: Multiple

The station has one Island platform and caters the slow trains on either side of it. The access to this station is quite inconvenient and has foot-over-bridges on the south and north ends of the 300m long platform.

40

The station area is witnessing a very mixed-use development on a scale which the station is not equipped to handle. The access points to the station from these new developments are not well defined and often require the people to take winding pedestrian routes or to dangerously cross the tracks at various locations along the length of the platform. In the figure to the left it can be seen that the area is predominantly

residential (blue). The ones closer to the station (white dotted) are social housing and are very recent

constructions. They are being built to rehabilitate the informal housing units (Blue dotted) and make way for the new (Yellow). commercial These new developments commercial

buildings are high-rise and many of these are being built near the station

Figure 2-8 Kanjurmarg Station Area Source: Google Earth

areas across all the central line stations in greater Mumbai. The most worrying factor about these commercial developments is that they are provided with mega car-parking bays and their accesses for pedestrians from the station buildings are not being well defined. These new office blocks seem that their locations in the suburban areas would let the staff use more private transport to drive down to them from many new residential developments taking place in the vicinity. There seems to be little logic for these office blocks to provide 41

multiple levels of car-park. It is believed that these new constructions are taking place due to the much widening and strengthening of the east-west link roads (orange dotted in the previous figure) providing rare east-west connectivity across the width of the city in a linear Mumbai city where most roads happen to run in the north-south direction. The green areas highlighted areas in the previous figure are the locations of retail buildings. The one closer to the station is a shopping mall and the one near the east-west link bridge is a 5-star hotel (See figure below). Although the shopping mall which also houses a Cineplex, adds value to the station area but the location of the new high-end hotel building at a busy traffic junction seems to be out of place. There seems to be no co-ordinated development of this station area and unfortunately this situation is being seen replicated in many other station precincts of Mumbai where previously stood the big industrial units (dotted red in the previous figure) surrounded by informal housing units. The station access roads (shaded white in fig. 2-8) are too narrow and although there is a small bus station at the access road in the north, it is barely wide enough to cater the recent developments coming up alongside them. The situation is very similar to many other stations in Mumbai, where buses, taxis, rickshaws all have to fight for space and the pedestrians have to find their way amongst pavements hawkers. The developments of pedestrian access routes to the station area are being
Figure 2-9 Skywalk at Kanjurmarg Station. Source: Multiple

them are

because taken over

most the

recently chalked out but due to their 42

inconvenient alignments, very few people are using them. Several skywalks are being built all over the city without mapping the pedestrian routes or physically linking them with functions, such as markets, public buildings or private office buildings (Schlaikjer, 2010).
Table 2-9 SWOT Analysis of Kanjurmarg Station Source: Author

Strengths

The station is located at a very strategic road junction. A very mixed-use development is taking place around it. The station access points are poorly planned. The station seems to be not integrated within scope of developments taking place around it.

Weaknesses

Opportunities

There is still more land available and it just requires strengthening the access points to make the station area.

The station building if revamped can become the focal point to the new developments taking place around it.

Threats

The concept of building skywalks can rob the street culture.

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3. Urban Transport for World Cities

3.1. Urban Rail Infrastructure In Europe, most major cities are taking up redevelopment of their transport nodes, housing stock to remain competitive and the city authorities have been working on it by seeking more powers to finance and execute these redevelopment schemes on their own (Kreukels & Spit, 1990) (Parkinson, Bianchini, Dawson, & Harding, 1991). These initiatives can be justified due to combination of factors where policies want to lay an emphasis on more environment friendly transport services and achieve efficient management of the land resource for regeneration of local economies. The importance of infrastructure investments has gathered much prominence. The property market can well be advantaged from effective management of the transport corridors and its nodes but in Mumbai, the old transport nodes are not been given its due importance. The development occurring around them is very sporadic and often not planned in a comprehensive way. The example of Kanjurmarg station explained in the previous chapter confirms that. It is not to be forgotten that surface transport can assist its users in many ways. It not only carries them from one place to another but helps to orient them to the urban fabric of the whole city. The availability of credible and a very sustainable mode of mass transport is very essential for any dense megacities of the world. Some 40% rail passengers, who arrive in London, also use the underground (Bayliss, 2008). In Netherlands, 52% of all train commuters cycle to their stations and 22% come walking (VROM, 1992). Urban rail systems can set a new dimension to the city functions. Its availability can be of great advantage to its users and the city in general. It hence becomes imperative that such a system must remain in good shape and continue to offer better standards of mobility. The trains, the tracks they 44

run on and the stations they halt at are all required to act in symphony and re-equip themselves to suit their users. The numerous stations have the ability to renew their surrounding areas by augmenting various functions and assure a more sustainable development. The design of these stations needs to deliver a wider social and economic role. Its location and layout needs to adapt and assimilate into the urban layout for the adjoining areas to be able to reap economic benefits. The stations are essentially public buildings and a comprehensive observational research of its users can give the designers a valid perspective. Following are case-studies of some stations in various parts of the world, where their designs have evolved much to integrate with the areas they serve to forge sustainable development and usher more public transport usage.

45

3.2 Case-studies 3.2.1 Stratford Station, London UK

Figure 3-1 London Rail Network Source: Transport for London website

London, the capital city of England is known world over for its well developed urban rail network comprised of underground tube trains, the over-ground trains, light rail and trams, and to augment these services well, the city also has a large fleet of buses, water taxis and car taxis. London has a dedicated local government body called the Transport for London which manages these services and implements the various projects for delivering an effective mode of transport to Londoners.

46

Table 3-3 Components of rail network, London Source: Transport for London website

Type Underground Tube Over ground Light Rail DLR Tram (Tramlink) Total

Users/annual 1065 million

Lines 11

Length 402

Stations 270

11 million 64 million 27 million

5 4 1

86kms 34kms 28kms

78 40 39

1167 Million 3.5 million/day

21

550

427

London rail network has been continuously developing itself to suit the needs of millions of passengers. Londoner gets to switch various modes of transport at the hundreds of London transports network nodes. It can be assumed that most Londoners live at a walking distance from a rail station or a bus stand and hence it can be substantiated that the public transport in London is quite robust. Architecturally, most stations follow definite design elements and set a uniform order. The stations are equipped with escalators, lifts and many are being upgraded to be accessed by disabled persons. The network lines run in all directions of the city and cover the suburban area quite extensively. There are numerous interchanges on each rail line and they have augmented the network quite effectively.

47

Stratford is a suburb of London and is located to the north east of Londons centre. The station location is very strategic as the Olympic Village is coming just north to the station area and the station is expected to cater large number of sports enthusiasts during the games. The suburban area which this station serves is also experiencing major regeneration and the station building was improved as a part of it. The East London is undergoing urban renewal as the old docks are being developed to accommodate various new functions. The end of 20th century saw this major change beginning to happen with London bagging the opportunity to host the Olympics 2012. The Jubilee line of the London underground rail network was extended from Green Park till Stratford. Some eleven stations were developed

Stratford

London

Figure 3-2 Location: Stratford Station Source: Multiple

in along this extension. The stations were to highlight new contemporary British architectural trends. Stratford, a part of the Newham Councils master- plan is going to accommodate some 20,000 homes (See figure below) and to make it all sustainable, 46,000 jobs are going to get created along with addition and upgrading of civic amenities. New schools, shops and other recreational facilities are going to be developed and going by the recommendations of the biggest ever master-plan in Europe evolved for this east London area of Stratford, it hints that these developments are going to get spun around the various 48

transport linkages which the area has been developing since some time now. It is believed that currently the area is supported by the best transport linkages available in the whole of UK (London Borough of Newham, 2011).

Figure 3-3 Master plan for Stratford Source: (London Borough of Newham, 2011)

49

It is certain that the Stratford station designed by Wilkinson Eyres Architects, commissioned in the year 1994 is going to see its importance grow manifolds. The area is poised to serve the eastern gateway for London city. The design studio was established in 1983 and has built other projects like the South Quay foot bridge and the Floral Street Bridge (See figure 4) and was found to be suitable to design the layout for the station which would handle the intra-city and inter-regional train services. The station was initially a part of Jubilee line extension project and its now being brought under the scheme for the much bigger regeneration of the area. The brand new terminus building, serving the extended Jubilee line is built by replacing an old underground station (Powell, 2000). The station is a complex interchange serving four lines, the Underground Central line and the over ground North London Line, the Jubilee line and the DLR (Docklands Light Rail). The project was envisaged to engage the area with a new planning layout. The North London Line runs cutting across the station building and it were a major challenge to assimilate the line into the building design. The quarter elliptical building form resting on four inconspicuous pillars opens on the south and is enclosed by a tapering glass curtain-wall which guarantees ample daylight penetration. The curved profile tapering onto the north casts negligible shadows. The station befits its comparison with a shining jewel (Powell, 2001)

50

The interiors of the curving profile have been well highlighted by wide strips of lights running along the top of the entrance canopy which stretches throughout the station frontage. Outside the station area (see figure 3) is ample public space which gets linked to the bus station where the white Teflon awnings forms its roof. The scale of the bus station seems adequate and serves to be a major inter-modal connectivity for the station. The pedestrian route at the south-east of the station is guided through a high street retail complex on whose roof is a multi level car-park. This allows the station building to maintain its individuality and at the same time achieves a very orderly management of functions. It can be
Figure 3-4 Station's Profile (1) and Exploded view (2) Stratford Source: (Powell, 2000), (Powell, 2001)

assumed that the station building is not laden with too many functions apart from serving the commuters taking the trains on four separate lines is that the station is later going to cater the huge crowds who will be coming to the Olympic Sports complex, currently under construction and post Olympics may continue to attract crowds into a major shopping complex also currently under construction. Along with creation of retail spaces, numerous housing units, schools, a university and other amenities are planned in the

Figure 3-5 Interiors of Stratford Station Source: (Powell, The Jubilee Line Extension, 2000)

area, earlier was a brown-field site belonging to the rail companies (London Borough of Newham, 2011).

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Figure 3-6 Present Stratford Station Area Source: Google Earth

Overall the station seems to befittingly suit the role it is going to serve in coming years and sets a great example of spatial distribution and ordered circulation management with its simple bare minimum interiors. 52

The lessons learnt from planning the Stratford station can be applied at some stations which are being developed in the New Mumbai area. The parts of New Mumbai lack multitude of linkages with the older and much denser Mumbai and hence the planning authorities are bound to find it challenging to attract more people to shift to these new area. It is essential for a place to be more accessible in order to become attractive for the property developers and people to move in.
Table 3-2 SWOT Analysis, Stratford Station Source: Author

Strengths

The station is the focal point for the new development proposed in the area.

Weaknesses

The stations simple and transparent look makes it an attractive gateway The station could have incorporated more functions with more levels above the tracks.

The vehicular road between the shopping complex and Station needs to be subdued.

Opportunities

The use of glass can enhance the visibility for the station building Gentrification of Station areas can greatly be influenced on harbour line stations along the Mumbai port land by taking lessons from this station.

Threats

53

3.2.2 Kyoto Rail Station, Japan Japan has spearheaded great innovations in the field of high-speed trains and in the postsecond war era was able to develop itself into a major economy. Railways in Japan are laid across the countries remotest corners and have brought its people closer. Railways led to rapid urbanisation of the country and made its cities
Figure 3-7 Location of Kyoto Source Multiple

bigger to serve millions of people. Very dense conurbations are seen in Japan and to provide its citizens with modes of mobility, railways were given more prominence. Kyoto is one such city and the railway station building designed by Hiroshi Hara and Atelier 5, a design group studio has great story to tell. The station was built in 1997 and serves more than being a railway station. The station building, however is the fourth building being built at the same site. The first one was built in 1877, the second in 1914 and the third in 1952. The present one is a multi-level building laden with many more functions to serve its users and city in general. The station is served by 10 rail lines at various points at the base and under the building (Mi Marketing Pty Ltd, 2010). The population of Kyoto is whopping 26.5 million and most of its urban fabric is in accordance with layout which can date back to several millennia ago. The city and its outlying suburbs have evolved in sync with the historic patterns while embracing some modern contemporary elements. This primarily served an inspiration to the designers of this 54

contemporary station building (Hara, 1997). They added numerous functions to this building and also treated the spaces and appearance of the building quite sensitively. The big atrium enclosed by glass held by steel framework represents the intricacy of street patterns observed in Kyoto and according to the architect serves as the matrix for the building (Japan Guide, 2009).

Figure 3-8 The Buildings South Facade (Left), The Rail Platforms (Middle) and the Atrium (Right), Kyoto Rail Station Source: Multiple.

The building is set over a four hectare site and its longer side measures a good 470 meters. The 70 m long station building of such a long length has 238,000 sq.m of floorspace and as block divides the city across the east- west direction. The north of the building houses new developments and is very busy
Figure 3-9 Observation Deck and the Skywalk, Kyoto rail StationSource: Multiple

because that is where the traditional downtown area is located while the

south seems to be a quaint neighbourhood. The gigantic building is built parallel to the rail 55

tracks and boasts of a hotel, a retail space, conference centre, a museum and multi-level car-park. The insides of this building can be characterised by its very unique atrium which converges down in the centre of the building onto a piazza also serving as a concourse to access the rail station. The atrium steps down gradually towards the centre in a stepped manner. The base of this humongous atrium connects welcomingly with the outside piazza where separate bays for taxis and buses await the commuters to provide inter-modal facilities. Various other facilities are provided here. The base of this epic atrium also leads its users to a large shopping mall and the atrium allows the shoppers to orient themselves in context with the rest of this huge railway station. Beyond the mall is the multi-level car park wing to the west of the building and a hotel lies on the other side with its rooms aligned along the remaining length of the building (Futagawa, 1996). The station also provides the tourists and the people of Kyoto to experience some great views of the city from an observation deck located on the top of the building. Another skywalk which runs 45 m above the central piazza also offers the views of the city and witness the activity within the station building. Both these spaces are open to public and the access is free (Japan Guide, 2009). A huge central void separates the hotel block from the shopping mall and ensures that the building doesnt appear as a huge long monolith. The location of this void coincides with an important city street. The exteriors of the building are played along using extrusions, inclines and a void. The building hits the ground with a stepped extrusion over which various building services are installed. Many reproductions of the art work by Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Longo, Kokyo Hatanaka, Thomas Shanow and Joseoh Kosuth adorns the inside walls. 56

The use of glass on the inclined and straight facades interestingly reflects the changing skies above create unique canvases (Futagawa, 1996).

Figure 3-10 North Elevation (1), South Elevation (2), Section (3), Axonometric (4), Plan (5), Kyoto rail Station Source: (Hara, 1997)

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Figure 3-11 Spatial Organisation, Kyoto Rail Station Source: (Hara, 1997)

In the above figure, one can clearly see how the buildings neatly managed functions gimmicks a city in itself and at the same time places the rail station in the centrality of the urban built space. The station building design set a new trend for development of various stations in Japan (Pollock, 1998) and such influences can also be seen in the planning of Vashi and Belapur railway stations on the relatively newer section of Suburban rail network in Mumbai, where the air space above the tracks is been used to create only deep office floor plates. Similar exploitation of air space over some important suburban train stations such as Kurla. Thane and Panvel can provide much vitality to the station building while simultaneously helping railways to earn more revenues. The concentration of such varied functions can provide much convenience to all and also to the people working and living in the vicinity of the station. The building type can also trigger higher densification of areas within the walk able distances and serve major deterrent to urban sprawl.
Table 4-3 SWOT Analysis, Kyoto Railway Station Source: Author

Strengths

The station serves as a vital link between the two distinct sides of the city The station laden with numerous functions serves as a city in itself The assemblage of too many functions can cause security concerns in case of emergency.

Weaknesses

58

 Opportunities

The station seems to be standing in isolation from all the sides. Multi-level stations with mixed use functions can help decongestion of station areas.

Threats

The revenues earned from letting these spaces can help earn railways more. The long building form can be very daunting to the city scape.

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3.2.3 Glazenberg Rail Station, Zurich, Switzerland Zurich the largest city in Switzerland is home 1.2 million people and they majorly depend on citys public transport. The city buses, trams and light rail (S.Bahn) together deliver public transport. The city offers some of the best living standards for majority of its people (Mercer LLC, 2011). The rail network got operational in 1990 to connect the suburban areas of the city with its city centre (Ferrarini, Ueli Zbinden, 2005). Glanzenberg is one such suburban
Figure 3-12 Public Transport Lines, Zurich Source: Invalid source specified.

rail station offering good frequency rail connectivity to go to the city centre in

Zurich. The station building is minimalistic and designed by Ueli Zbinden using simple prefabricated structural elements. The station was to be located in an area dominated by roadways. The structure here seems to be modestly catering the bare basic functions required for a rail station. The station sits right under an overpass and has used much of the unused space under it for the stations forecourt which provides the facility for park and ride. The architect wanted the users to feel safe at the station and a structure which would help much to orient themselves in accordance with their surroundings. The design is very distinct and the legible structure ensures best use of space. The rail interface is basic and provided with a 35 m long cubed pavilion of glass, held by a frame of prefabricated steel members, 60

following a 7 m grid plan. Such simplicity and use of prefabrication allowed speedy construction work even when the rail line was in operation (Ferrarini, Ueli Zbinden, 2005). The station also houses a waiting room, bit of retail, washrooms and covered area for cycles. Steel rectangular sections and folded wood lamina were joined together using semi-rigid joints to form the roof. The sections of the structural components have been designed distinctly to suit the loads they will be experiencing for just use of materials but an amazing uniformity has been achieved with regards to the appearance of the structure. The profile of the pavilion roof is designed sensitively. The side facing the forecourt has been provided with overhangs from the same roof level but it is lowered on the side where the platforms are to be covered. The structural profile made of hollow steel sections also carries the wiring for the electrical and light fittings. The platforms are serviced by underpasses and are

Figure 3-13 Plan, Glazenberg Rail Station Source: Invalid source specified.

61

tiled with refreshingly yellow tiles. The glass panels which enclose the pavilion are held in an aluminium frame and the frame joins with the profile with a very detailed and aesthetic way.

Figure 4-14 Section and Elevation, Glazenberg Rail Station Source: Invalid source specified.

The simplicity adopted in the structural elements speaks of a much matured design sensibility which also achieves optimal use of the material and resources used for its construction. The transparency provided by glass panels and the least obtrusive and otherwise bold expression of structural elements can go a long way in creating orderly spaces within such complex transport buildings of much public importance and they can also influence the sense of order in congested suburban areas which are examples of more chaotic and unorganised urban environments. Glazenberg station design can be well adopted to suit the redesigning for the existing suburban stations in Mumbai. The use of prefabricated structural components can ensure 62

speedy upgrading of the station buildings. The Glazenberg station design is uncluttered and makes efficient use of spaces. It eliminates the disproportionate use of resources and delivers a clean and a very functional space for the users. The use of glass ensures better visibility and guarantees better orientation which is otherwise found lacking in more elaborate and confined railway station buildings. The prospect of such a building design for stations in less crowded suburban areas of Mumbai is surely promising.

Table 3.4 SWOT Analysis, Glazenberg Railway Station Source: Author

Strengths

The use of glass for the small station ensures better visibility and guarantees security

Weaknesses Opportunities

The stations location under the viaduct makes efficient use of space. The stations forecourt has a car park and has no activities spun around it The station seems to be standing in isolation from all the sides. Prefabrication of structural components can save great deal of money and time.

Threats

The minimalist and contemporary design can add order to the area.

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3.2.4 Bangkok Light Rail Stations Bangkok, also called by the name Krung Thep is the capital city of Thailand, a country in the tropical South-East Asia. The capital city is also the seat of many cultural and economical activities. The population of Bangkok

Metropolitan area is 12.39 million and is distributed across 7762 sq.km area which indicates of a very moderate population density of 1542 ppl/sq.km (Brinkhoff, 2010). The urban sprawl is mostly because the rising popularity of private transport fuelled by rising income levels and extensive availability of credit (Tanaboriboon, 1993). The older and traditional business districts contain within them a very dense built environment with many high-rises. The traffic conditions in the city are quite acute but lately the development of public transport is providing much respite.
Table 3-5. Train transport in Bangkok Source: Multiple Figure 3-15 Location: Bangkok Source: (Brinkhoff, 2010)

Metro Lines Stations Length Ridership/day 1 18 20 kms 200,000

Sky-train 2 25 55 kms 460,000

Total 3 43 75 kms 660,000

The city has developed light rail transport system by building viaducts on most of the citys key and busy roads. The governments initiative for building rail transport for the city has

64

met several setbacks and it is only recently that the city has been able to depend on rail transit system (Glaister, Allport, Brown, & Travers, 2010).

Figure 3-16 Typical Station for the Bangkok Light Rail Source: (Building Design Partnership, 1995)

The traffic situation in Bangkok was so bad that it was estimated that the mass transit plan which was to be built during the period of 15 years costing $15 billion, could have only increased the speed of traffic by merely a kilometre per hour (Moreau, 1991). Bangkok had to do something to solve its traffic problems and hence was to build a mass transit rail network. A proposal for building the sky-train by the UK based Building Design Partnership seems to be very location sensitive rail transport system but the one which got built is slightly different from the initial proposal. The proposal was to build a 15 km long elevated rail line with 25 stations at an interval of 600m. The rail line was to be supported by viaducts made of single concrete pillars been 65
Figure 3-17 Artist impression: Bangkok Light Rail Source: (Building Design Partnership, 1995)

built at the centre of the major streets. The stations were to be built in steel over two levels. The top level was to hold the train line and the platforms with canopies and the lower level was to cater the ticketing windows and toilets. The levels were to be accessed from the street sidewalks by stairs and lifts. Precast concrete pillars were to be used and double sided steel cantilevers to form the decks. Steel was preferred because of its light weight and it offers much flexibility to be fabricated off site. The line was to be built within 42 months. The design of all the stations except the central station was kept elegant with sleek canopies and the design was kept consistent to keep the costs lower as it would involve mass production of the similar structural components and help achieve the project deadline. The two steel decks supported over the precast concrete column were 28m wide. The sleek canopies over the platforms on the top most deck were asymmetrical and were to provide an interesting architectural element to the busy streets if viewed from top. The physical elements of the roof were maintained even for the central stations where two loops were to cross at the same station. The station here was to hold 90,000 commuters per hour during the rush hours. For orderly movement of commuters escalators were provided between two upper platform decks and another third deck was provided under the arch of the concrete portal here. The tracks were provided on the edge of the upper two decks which allowed even more visibility of the station area for the commuters.

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Figure 3-18 Section through the Central Station, Bangkok light Rail, Source: (Building Design Partnership, 1995)

The advantages of an elevated rail link helps the commuters orient themselves well to the areas they go through and also offers much visibility to the development taking place around the stations and hence prove more attractive for the property development. It is also possible for physically connecting such developments at the elevated levels (Building Design Partnership, 1995). Elevated rail links can offer much respite to decongesting the areas as they can be built with least disturbances during their construction compared to building an underground system and it is also feasible to build them in areas where the ground conditions are not suitable to build underground tunnels. In case of Bangkok, if the system was built underground it would have required building 60m deep piles and the citys location in a high seismic zone would have required more precautions, adding to the costs of construction (McGuirk, 1995). The government though did go ahead and built the 20km underground section in 2004.

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Table 3-5 SWOT Analysis, Bangkok Light Rail Stations Source: Author

Strengths

The elevated stations save a lot of ground space. The use of same and elegant station design helps create a better image for the city.

Weaknesses

The entry and exit points from the sidewalks can be tricky in congested areas of the city

The stations do not form direct physical linkages with the surrounding built form.

Opportunities

The scope of an elevated rail line over the busy roads can greatly decongest traffic and encourage more public transport usage.

The surrounding areas near the stations can greatly benefit by the provision of better and clean mode of transport.

Threats

Insensitive Street level Integration

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4. Conclusions- Design Guidelines for the Mumbai Rail Stations and Precincts
The first two chapters have duly highlighted how important are the rail services for Mumbai and the present status of it is proving very inadequate to cater the needs of a rising population. The case-studies in chapter two clearly mention that although the development authorities are trying innovative ways to tackle the congestion at these stations, their outcomes have barely been appreciated. This is partly because these improvements have not been carried out by keeping in perspective the needs of the users and the built environment which surrounds these stations. Building of skywalks and elevated roads, decks can deteriorate the quality of life on the street levels and can result their redundancy if they fail to attract users due to the poor and inadequate planning. These are public spaces and no amount of aesthetics can welcome people to use it unless they are practical and convenient to use. In case of many new iconic stations coming up in New Mumbai, big forecourts are being provided for effective integration with other modes of transport such

Figure 4-1 Mumbai Stations (Clockwise) Office blocks above Vashi Station, Iconic Turbhe Station, Motorbike parking at Thane Station, Car parking on the roof of Khargar Station and Elevated bus station outside Thane Station. Source: Multiple

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as buses, taxis and auto rickshaws; multiple levels over the tracks are provided for office space use and at few stations ample car and motorbike parking has been provided (see figure 4-1). The provision of these facilities is not consistent across all stations and also where provided are not serving their purpose. These station areas need an effective integration with various aspects of urban life. They can be shopping centres, places offering leisure and entertainment facilities, an effective inter-modal transport facility apart from being a railway station. Mumbai suburban stations need an amalgamated kind of architecture which supports all possible kind of functions and activities within and around them as discussed in the chapter three. The station areas need to be served by a mixed use of land resources as in the case of Stratford, and also accommodate many allied functions within itself, very similar to Kyoto railway station and be just as elegant and functional by the use of prefabricated structural elements order, scale and aesthetics which the Glazenberg station stands for. Equal care should be taken while building elevated walks, rail lines and stations by keeping their structures elegant and versatile as in the case of Bangkoks light rail stations. Such comparisons may set the direction for possible intervention of station architecture in Mumbai. Rail stations need to be designed in context with their users and the scope of designing them should go beyond the perimeters of the station building and extend into their precincts. The nature of built environment surrounding the station buildings can have both good and bad effect on the functioning of these key public buildings. The aim of this chapter

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is to suggest guidelines for the effective designing of station buildings and later for design and managements of their precincts. 4.1 Rail Stations The design and planning of rail stations are more or less dictated by the circulation patterns which allow its user to enter and exit these station buildings to board and disembark off the trains which halt at these stations. This experience between the stretches of this activity can largely influence the usage of rail services. The station design has to provide comfort and safety. 4.1.1 Internal Circulation The insides of a typical rail station are of regular ticket counters and then concourses leading to the various long platforms. The ticketing area is the first point of interface for a passenger with the station. The designing of this interface has to be distinctly visible and elegant. Bold and aesthetically designed station canopies can provide that much needed visibility and shelter from the harsh sun and rains in the open. The access within the station has to be friendly for all types of users such as elderly and disabled people. Once inside the station building, the ticketing counters can be located well within a few steps and considering the amounts of people using the train services in Mumbai as of now ample area are required to be provided for queuing . However there is a limitation to the amount of space which can be provided in the ticketing area at Mumbai rail stations because many long queues are a regular sight at most stations and hence faster dispensation of tickets through various credible methods should be considered. In Mumbai, ticket vending machines, coupon validating machines and even touch-card machines (See figure 4-2) have been provided on the lines of Londons Oyster card but these systems are badly managed. 71

They are simply not designed to cater the huge number of users. Most fail to work within months of their installation or in the case of touch-card system, the machines are rarely being located at key access points to the stations and also go faulty as they get exposed to the harsh
Figure 4-2, Various ticketing options, Mumbai Suburban rail, Source: Multiple

hot and humid climate and the torrential rains, Mumbai witnesses during the

monsoon season. The ticketing system needs to be remodelled on the lines of London tube, where every passenger entering the core area of the station has to pass through the card validators and owing to these stations catering huge crowds during morning hours, the area assigned to accommodate these validators should be wide enough. The use of these validators can also act as barrier controls to regulate the number of the passengers entering the core areas of the rail stations. For an effective regulation of crowds, it is however required that these barriers cum validators are manned as it is in the case of London stations. Also the other modes of tickets availed should allow passengers to enter the station core areas by validating their tickets at these barriers. This may work well in London where there are far few people using the rail services along different lines and many more stations as against in Mumbai, where only three rail lines cater almost 7 million daily users at just 120 Stations (see table 1-2 of the Chapter 1). The system designed for Mumbai needs to be more effective to cater almost double the numbers compared to London. This only hints at designing wide enough access points to the stations core areas. The use of such a system wont require many ticket counters but wider access points which if located along 72

the concourses can result into better regulation of passenger flows and avoiding of bottlenecks. In case of Mumbais Rail stations, the train services are 12-car long and they carry 5000 people at a time during peak hours when they are allowed to carry just half that number (Bhagat, 2011). This has resulted in platforms as long as 270m. A detailed study can be carried out to ascertain the number of passengers enter and exit a particular station during the rush hours and then the internal spaces be designed accordingly. Factors such as user density, ticketing, rush hour times and disabled persons accessibility should be considered while designing circulation areas. Barrier control systems, speedy ticketing methods and ensuring of unobstructed spaces can help better circulation of people (Edwards, 1997). These spaces should be calculated for a minimum of 1 sq.m/passenger (Godward, 1992). Apart from providing zones for ticketing, the stations are also to provide platforms and to access these have to design effective means of vertical and horizontal movement of

passengers through stairs and concourses. The figure 4-3, indicates the typical suburban section rail for stations most in

Mumbai. The foot-over bridges are usually of provided for

movement
Figure 4-3 Typical Circulation patterns for Mumbai Rail Stations Source: Author

passengers

between platforms and sides of

the station but with adding of new lines for a separate freight and express train corridor 73

(earlier shared with suburban services) has led to shifting of the ticket counters on the level of the foot-over bridges and these bridges are being extended deep onto either sides of the station in the form of skywalks but Mumbai rail stations are not simply meant to cater passengers. Their surroundings are full of various activities which are now protesting against these skywalks as it would render their shops on the ground level pointless. It is in the interest of saving the fabric of the outside station areas and having not to construct structures up the air, an underground pass through can be constructed just across the station width. This can ensure open to sky streets and streets full of activities. Shifting of just passenger movement away from the ground floor can prove detrimental to the businesses around the station. These underpasses can work in tandem with the station Foot-over bridges. Such alternate of providing additional means of passenger movement can greatly enhance their mobility and the scope of providing easy access to disabled people can be achieved by providing lifts (See figure 4-4). 4.1.2 Congregation of more functions

Figure 4-4 Proposed Circulation pattern for Mumbai Suburban Rail Stations Source: Author

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The changing face of the stations has been executed by making them deliver more functions while creating new avenues for social, economical and cultural interactions. Alongside, the structures to accommodate these new functions have undergone major physical changes. The congregation of several functions is proving convenient for its users who can now shop at numerous retail units, eat variety of world cuisines at the cafes and restaurants, use banks, ATMS, and interact with other people while being at the station itself. These station buildings have become more attractive for all kinds of users and no more just the travellers. The built environment accommodating so many functions is bound to get complex and would require an evolution in the aspects of transport architecture. The stations are becoming part of the world of leisure, are serving as resort for the urban tourist, the

Figure 4-5 Vashi Rail Station, Mumbai (left) and Kyoto Rail Station Source: Multiple

shopper and the unemployed (Edwards, 1997). These new rail stations are providing greater interactions with their environments which were earlier restricted to a few who would buy tickets for wanting to commute by trains. In the contrary now the new breed of stations have become more attractive and are earning much revenue from these new provision of functions. Many developers are finding it attractive to build office and retail spaces by exploiting the air space above the tracks and their precincts. For e.g the offices above the Vashi Station in New Mumbai or the Kyoto Railway station in Japan which accommodates 75

number of shops, a hotel, a car park and art galleries. . A comprehensive and all inclusive design can serve differently to various types of users. All of this can be achieved by having the local people, the developers to collaborate with the rail companies to evolve location specific functions and build them by sharing resources. In Mumbai, owing to the busy nature of most stations, provision of shopping malls, offices at major stations can be avoided by accommodating them outside the station building in the station precinct area. Such facilities can also be provided in the nearest station on the same line. The circulation areas can be designed by demarcating zones for ticketing, areas for food/book stalls, waiting areas, toilets and information display boards and then linking them sequentially. These circulation areas should not allow passengers to get disoriented for.e.g in the case of Kyoto railway station discussed in the chapter 3, the main piazza remains in the centrality of all the other functions distributed in the building. Care should be taken while integrating the circulation between the various levels in the station building, i.e. the stairs, ramps, lifts should be strategically located. Effective design of structural elements and distinct use of lighting, surface finishes can help passengers orient themselves at busy junctions in the station building (Edwards, 1997). The provision of limited retail spaces at some key circulation concourses especially near the ticket counters can help rail authority earn much revenue. British rail earned 153.7 million in revenues by leasing the spaces for various non-rail purposes (British Rail, 1994). For the effective exploitation of retail spaces in the station building and their smooth integration with the station precincts, the ticketing areas can be located just before the passenger is

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about to enter the core area of the station which serves the trains. Major Stations offering inter-city express train services also house allied services such as post and parcel services. The stations also witness arrival of vegetables and fish in the early morning hours. It is often seen on Mumbais suburban stations that these goods are transported using the same circulation routes shared by fellow passengers. Although suburban trains have special coaches for their transport but stations dont have any provisions for their movement from the platforms to the sides of a station. These services need to given a dedicated zone and a circulation path to minimise conflicts with the passenger movement. A space should be dedicated for their storage and then a path be provided to transport these items to their markets. It could be worth if these markets are allowed to function in the close vicinity of the stations or are simply stacked over the station platforms or rail lines to be accessed from the sides. Care should also be taken to allow healthy levels of light in all these circulation areas and considering the hot and humid climate of Mumbai, forced ventilation along with indirect lighting can put the users at much ease. The top surfaces of the platforms and station building should be provided with light and heat reflecting surfaces, for example white aluminium sheets in addition with intermediate translucent poly-carbonate sheets. Provision of heavy duty fans at regular intervals can be more comforting.

4.2 Station Precinct In Mumbai, most suburbs served by rail stations have developed dense built environments around them. Owing to the rising population in the city, these areas have buckled under and are often considered unattractive. Many people living in the suburbs are shunning away 77

from living close to these stations and are buying properties away from them. The developers too have realised this and are building suitable housing units for the middle classes in areas away from the stations. This has resulted in urban sprawls and the trend needs to be regulated. Most station area in Mumbai although congested but are not the places to find high-rises. The ratio for allowable developable area over a given plot (floor space index, FSI) is too less. In Mumbai, this ratio is just 1.33 for the city and 1 in the suburbs (Bertaud, Mumbai FSI/FAR Conundrum, 2004). To begin with, the archaic land regulations can be relaxed to make way for high-rise construction of mixed-use building types in the station precincts on the lines of London Bridge Station and Canary Wharf in London.

Figure 4-6 London Bridge Station (Top two) and Canary Wharf Station (Bottom two) Source Multiple

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4.2.1 Station as a bridge Provision of developing commercial spaces in and around the stations is proving beneficial for the users as well as the developers. This can also help in arresting urban sprawl and help gentrify the inner town centres. There is no doubt that the rail-lines halve the areas from where they pass through and many over and underpasses are required to connect these sides. Rail stations can satisfyingly offer to provide a linkage and if this linkage is to accommodate various functions then it invariably brings much vitality to the location of the station and its surrounding area. The elements of the station such as its roof can become an elevated deck to park vehicles, cycles or sport a market, a park or a recreational space. An iconic bridge can also impart a unique identity to that place for e.g the Croydon rail station. The rail station is aligned to a vehicular bridge with a very unique steel structure which holds the station building next to it. The vehicular bridge has been strengthened to offer a tram line, which offers feeder services to the station. This can be applied to serve

Figure 4.7 Croydon Station, London Source: Multiple

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many key rail stations in Mumbai and help develop either sides of the station area as against just one side. The example of Thane railway station as discussed in the chapter 2, highlights strange contrasts with the level of activities happening on either sides of the tracks. At Thane only one side of the station has been developed by providing an elevated deck to accommodate city bus station but if the elevated deck was to be built over the tracks it would have served much better and opened up more area outside the congested rail station. 4.2.2 Forecourts 4.3.3 External Spaces Externally, the forecourts are spaces which are meant to allow access to the station concourses which later lead to the various platforms. The alignment of feeder bus/ tram routes should be set close to these forecourts and at the same time this alignment should be in sync with the pedestrian routes leading to the station. Cycling routes can also be made to converge at these forecourts. However, car or two wheeler-parking should be avoided in order to give right of way for buses, trams, cycles and pedestrians. Care should also be taken that during the times of emergencies the fire brigade and ambulances can access all the access points to the station. In case of Mumbai, most suburban stations are through stations and as explained in the case of Thane and Kanjurmarg stations in chapter two, there are mainly three types of stations.

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Table 4-1 Station Types in Mumbai Source: Author

1. Major through Stations offering slow and fast suburban and also express inter-city services. for e.g. Thane as explained in the chapter 2 2. Major through Stations offering slow and fast suburban only.

3. Through stations offering only slow suburban services. for e.g.

Kanjurmarg as explained in the chapter 2

In the case of these stations, it is not often that the road on either sides of the station may run along the length of the platforms. In the case of Thane it does but not in the case of Kanjurmarg. It is however very important that the stations not only are served by parallel running roads but also have a parallel running forecourts on either sides of the station. These forecourts can provide the stations with some breathing space. In order to compensate the usage of this huge forecourt area, the air-rights above the forecourt can be exploited and the buildings built over the forecourts can be accessed from the islands in forecourt. Interventions on such a huge scale are difficult but this has been partially accomplished in the case of Thane station, where the entire huge forecourt area is elevated to make way for a bus station and long elevated roads were built.

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Figure 4-8 Planning of station forecourts Source: Author

The user convenience can be greatly achieved by only such big interventions around the station areas in Mumbai because the surrounding built environment is very dense and has grown haphazardly. In Mumbais tropical climate, shade from the sun is important but also a good quality of light is desirable. Architectural elements such as canopies and shaded walkways can be provided. The use of paving and shading trees can be more desirable in the forecourts as against asphalted roads and shrubs. In the night, these same forecourts if provided with aesthetic lighting can make station areas look more attractive and the same space used by open-air markets in the day time can convert into open spaces with food stalls and places to meet and unwind. This multi-use of the same area can go a long way in also supporting low-income households, who can run businesses in these open areas. 4.3 Sustainability 4.3.1 Densification There is no doubt that train travel is the most sustainable mode of mass transport known to humans, the stations and train operations do utilise lot of energy and it makes more sense that the neighbourhoods benefit the most from these stations by saving resources which 82

one would have to spend for their commutes with regards to reach the station building or simply drive down to work via other less-fuel efficient modes of transport. Much energy efficiency can be achieved if the last legs of door-to-door journey are done by simply walking. This is only possible with high-rise constructions in walkable distances from the station. A core of a kilometre distance from the station can be demarcated for high-density, high-rise construction of mixed use type. A detailed mapping of such a kilometre radius around stations can be carried out and construction beyond this zone be strictly regulated. Construction of high-rises in an already dense city, lacking of open spaces is very desirable. Such efficient use of station areas can open up new avenues for commercial, residential and allied purposes and can easily curb urban sprawl. Such urban renewal should however be made to be cohesive and all-inclusive so that the overall quality of life improves and the benefits dont remain limited to only a few. Public housing for the poor can be encouraged in areas close to the stations and help them bring closer to the changing social and economic trends. 4.3.2 Renewables Train travel is undoubtedly the most sustainable mode of mass transport available and the design of rail stations can also be in sync with the values of improving sustainability. The example of Woking station, a suburban overground rail station in London is quite remarkable where a 34m x 22.5 m glass canopy to shelter taxis and city buses outside the station has been built by imbedding it with photoFigure 4-9 PV imbedded canopy outside the Woking Rail Station, London Source: (Harman, 2010)

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voltaic panels. The canopy produces 51,000 to 58,000 KWh/ year (Council, 2007). The costs for the construction was committed by the local council which is installing more such installations and combined heat plants across its council area to depend less on the national electricity grid. The prospects of on-site energy generation for suburban rail stations are enormous owing to the fact that platform roofs are metres long. The large roof areas can also be used to collect rain water in Mumbai where it rains only during monsoons. 4.4 Summary The design for the rail stations across the world is witnessing a great revival as the leading architects are increasingly taking up the tasks for design engineering of railway stations. Improved new designs are serving as catalysts for regeneration of old city centres. They are sustainable virtues of train travel with effective design and engineering techniques and at the same time are conceiving greater bondages with the economical and social aspects of urban life (Edwards, 1997). Mumbai, may be the densest and the most populated city in the world but it is not to be forgotten that it the commercial capital of a country, whose market economy is 4th biggest in the world (PTI, 2003) and is poised to become much bigger. India cant afford to deregulate archaic land-use laws. The station areas in Mumbai have to pave the way for achieving greater economic goals with increased activities around them and the station architecture has to stand as testimonials for the economic might. The dissertation has highlighted the issues facing the Mumbai suburban rail services to its possible extent using case-studies of some key stations, reports and news articles and has been able to set guidelines for the design and development of the suburban rail stations and their precincts by putting forth some important examples of station design and 84

management of the stations across the world. It is imperative that improvement of the station architecture and their built environment in Mumbai can guarantee that citys growth is sustained for times to come and assure its citizens better and clean standard of living.

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