ISBT, Metro, RRTS, passenger mover in Aerocity hub vision

The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which operates the Capital’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, and has land lease rights to the nearby Aerocity area, on Wednesday unveiled its vision of developing a transport hub integrating interstate bus services, the Delhi Metro’s existing and upcoming lines, a Regional Rapid Transit System, and an automated inter-terminal transport system around the Aerocity area.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

The Delhi airport is India’s busiest – it handled over 65 million passengers in the 2022-23 financial year — and is the most connected international airport in the country, also serving people who come from or go to other cities. It is also in the process of significantly expanding capacity and operations.

The proposed transport hub is roughly planned in the Aerocity area, where DIAL has rights to over 250acres of land. No additional land will have to be acquired, said a DIAL official.

DIAL described the new plan as a “multi-modal transport hub”, with four components — an interstate bus terminal (ISBT), a Delhi Metro interchange, a proposed Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS), and a planned passenger transport centre (PTC) with APMs, which are likely to be driverless trams similar to what many large airports in other countries have.

The ISBT will be developed in consultation with the Delhi transport department, DIAL’s proposal said.

“The proposed airport ISBT will have state-of-the-art passenger amenities, matching the airport standards. It will have the best possible user facilities like retail, food and beverage outlets, EV charging facilities, transit facilities, comfortable waiting areas, business centre, Wi-Fi services, and souvenir shops, among other things,” a DIAL spokesperson said, adding that there was no dedicated facility yet to park interstate buses at the airport.