Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has extended real-time coach occupancy displays to the Pink Line, allowing passengers to identify less crowded coaches before an arriving train reaches the platform. The feature is now available at Pink Line stations on the corridor running from Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar and Maujpur-Babarpur.
The Passenger Information Display System shows the approximate occupancy of individual coaches shortly before a train arrives. Coaches are identified as C1 to C6, enabling commuters to move towards coaches with more available space instead of entering the first crowded coach that stops in front of them.
DMRC had introduced the feature on the Magenta Line in 2022, covering stations between Botanical Garden and Janakpuri West. The corporation said the system received a positive response from passengers before it was operationalised on the Pink Line.
The occupancy information is generated through load sensors installed in the coaches. These sensors measure the current weight of each coach and compare it with its empty weight. The data is then used to calculate the approximate passenger load percentage, which is displayed on platform screens before the train’s arrival.
“Based on this data, the approximate passenger load percentage of each coach (displayed as C1 to C6) is calculated and shown on the platform PIDS screens shortly before the train arrives,” Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications, DMRC, said, according to the corporation’s statement reported by the Times of India.
Dayal said implementing the system on the Pink Line was challenging because it is a circular line. The line’s alignment connects several important interchange points and densely used sections of the city’s mass-transit network, making the distribution of passengers across coaches a recurring operational concern during peak periods.
DMRC said the information can help balance passenger loads across coaches, improve comfort and reduce localised overcrowding. It may also reduce the time commuters spend walking along a platform after a train has arrived while searching for space. For passengers, the system provides advance information about where crowding is lower and can make boarding decisions more predictable during busy periods.
The corporation also said coach occupancy data could support safety and operational efficiency by encouraging a more even distribution of weight across the train. The Pink Line display is intended to give commuters a clearer view of available capacity before boarding, while helping the metro make better use of space already available across individual coaches.
With the extension, the real-time occupancy feature is now operational on both the Magenta and Pink lines. DMRC’s next step is to continue using the platform Passenger Information Display System to show coach-wise occupancy shortly before arriving trains reach each station.
