Metro Rail in India     

Metro Rail in India     

Metro Rail General Rules

Metro Rail in India 

How it began

1. India’s 1st and Asia’s 5th metro rail was introduced in Kolkata.
2. Over a length of 16.45 km and the work on this project was sanctioned on 1.6.1972
3. The construction work started in 1973-74.After crossing so many hurdles Calcutta Metro started its journey on October 24, 1984

Why is it needed?

1. Unprecedented growth of personal vehicles.
2. Growing traffic congestion.
3. Air pollution and traffic accidents has become a major concern.
4. To avoid congestion at peak hours.
5. Time-saving. Reduced fuel consumption.

   

INDIAN METRO RAILWAY

EXISTING METRO RAILWAY
1. Kolkata Metro Rail.
2. Delhi Metro Rail.

FUTURE & PROPOSED METRO RAILWAY
1. Mumbai Metro Rail
2. Bangalore Metro Rail.
3. Hyderabad Metro Rail.
4. Chennai Metro Rail.
5. Kochi Metro Rail.

 

CITY METRO RAIL

1. lack of adequate connectivity are becoming increasingly eminent.
2. Delhi has taken the exemplary lead of developing the Metro rail.
3. India is well on its way to creating a world-class MRT system as an integral part of community infrastructure development in the country.
4. shift from private modes of conveyance to public transport.

India is looking to create a world-class MRT system:

1. Growing cities, growing population, and growing traffic have invariably called for a shift from private modes of conveyance to public transport.
2. MRTS in the world’s developing nations exist successfully.
3. India has lagged behind in this field but the reason could be as follows:

 

Lack of funds planning as is known that such projects require huge capital investments

1. a long gestation period
2. complex technology
3. The lack of integration between various systems of mass transportation
4. the absence of comprehensive traffic and transportation planning.

 

Besides the existing and the upcoming

1. proposals for MRTS for Pune, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Bhopal, Indore and Faridabad are being chalked out.

 

Key Considerations for MRTS

A metro model for a county would have to depend on its logistics, financial resources

1. Planning, construction, designing, and management of metros require:-extensive data, detailed surveys, the study of economic structure, the profile of settlement topography, travel preference, and major traffic corridors.

2. System needs to be made self-reliant and self-contained to minimize O&M (operations & maintenance) costs.
3. Technology with low initial cost but with high O & M cost should be avoided.

Cost Factors

Metro projects are meant to cater to cities with more than four million population
1. Larger the underground and elevated proposal, larger shall be the cost involved.
2. Funding process is done through the PPP model (Public-Private Partnership) as in Hyderabad and Mumbai or by DMRC model by the state or the central government as in Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata.

3. Correct process is the PPP model.
4. LPG (Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization) to encourage private investors

 

BENEFITs OF METRO RAIL

1. Requires 1/5th energy per passenger km compared to road-based transport system.
2. Causes less noise, no air pollution and eco friendly transport system.
3. Occupies no road space if underground and only about 2.60 meters width of the road if elevated.
4. Reduces journey time.
5. Cost effective mass transport system.
6. Reducing traffic transport problems.

Disadvantages – Advantages

Advantages

1. A cheap mode of transport, the MRTS helps in low energy consumption
2. It is eco-friendly (runs on electricity, thus minimizing air and sound pollution)
3. Averts the number of accidents
4. Is efficient in terms of space occupancy and provides comfort with ultra-modern coaches and modern systems like automatic ticketing, advanced signaling systems, automatic train protection system and integrated security systems.

5. Services like ATMs, food outlets, cafés and convenience stores at these stations make the journey more fruitful.
6. Also such stations lead to nearby economic development.
7. The international standard for MRTS with a maximum speed of 80kmph and average speed of around 34kmph helps in saving of time.
8. With proper designing, the peak hour capacity could be rated at 3-4 lakhs passengers per hour.”

Disadvantages

1. The only disadvantage of metros is the slight congestion on roads at the time of construction which has to be taken care of.
2. The cost factor is another disadvantage, the solution for which is to integrate metros with others systems considering the volume, structure, availability of space and resources for traffic and transportation.

Kolkata Metro

1. The only metro service in the country functioning directly under the Indian Railways, the foundation for this was laid as early as 1972.
2. Delays due to non-availability of sufficient funds, shifting of underground utilities, court injunctions and irregular supply of vital materials led to the commencement of services being pushed to 1984, after which progressive construction followed leading to the completion of the services of the entire stretch in 2005.
3. Kolkata faced a transport problem with only 8% of the land being available for road transport( 25-35% available in other cities)
4. The metro has been quite a hit with the residents in Kolkata considering the number of passengers which has expansively increased in the past years.
5. Large scale expansion projects (covering 87 kms) have now been planned and in its modernization program.

 

Modernization of the kolkata metro includes:

1. State-of-the-Art Automatic Fare Collection
2. Passenger Control system with Radio Frequency Identification based Flap Gates
3. Integrated Security System
4. new air-conditioned rakes
5. Automatic Signaling system.

Delhi Metro

1. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was established to build a metro in two phases serving Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad.
2. While the first phase covering 65.11km was opened in 2002 the second phase of 125km was recently completed.
3. The first railway project in the world to be registered for carbon credits by the United Nations, the Delhi Metro achieved this by saving power by using regenerative brakes in the trains, and reduced carbon emissions.
4. DMRC has also partnered with Google India (through Google Transit) to provide train schedule and route information to mobile devices with Google Maps.

Delhi metro airport express:

1. The popular Delhi Airport Metro Express rail from the Indira Gandhi International Airport to the city centre takes less than 20 minutes as opposed to one hour by road.
2. Its LCD screens equipped coaches imported from Spain are entirely different from the trains on this line and have in-built noise reduction features, padded fabric seats and provide flight information for convenience of air travellers.

3. The trains are fitted with an event recorder which can withstand high levels of temperature and impact.
4. The metro has been promoted as an integral part of community infrastructure, and community artwork depicting the local way of life at the stations in the form of decorative murals, panels and a gallery showcasing artwork and handicrafts from across India.

5. The Delhi Metro though plagued by controversies in the form of technical snags, overcrowding and accidents at the construction sites has proved as a model for the other metros in the country to follow.
6. Phases 3 and 4 will expand the total journey to 413.8km and are scheduled to open in 2016 and 2020 respectively. With such a great pace of work, the Delhi metro will soon become one of the fastest expanding metro networks in the world.

Mumbai Metro

1. Mumbai’s existing Suburban Railway and BEST bus system have not been able to compete with the rapid population growth.
2. The Mumbai MRTS saw the completion of the first phase, a partnership between Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Reliance Infrastructure and Veolia Transport (France) in 2012 and this entails a 12 km elevated metro with 12 stations enroute.
3. While the Suburban Railways provide a NS connect, this corridor will provide the relief in the East West (EW) connectivity, covering the journey in 21 minutes.

4. Phase 2 and Phase 3 would be totaling to a length of 146 km. Plans are on for a nine-line network by 2021 in its three phases of development costing Rs.36,000 crore.
5. Skywalks have also been provided to connect the metro and suburban railways stations.
6. Right from the construction stage, initiatives have been on to make the Mumbai Metro Asia’s first green metro.

 

Bengaluru Metro

1. Though a MRTS has been in consideration for long in the Garden City, the foundation stone was finally laid in 2006.
2. Being operated by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), a detailed project report of two double line corridors with a total length of 33 km (elevated and underground) with 32 stations has been prepared.
3. The general consultants for the project: o EW and NS corridors as part of Phase I of the project which is estimated to complete by this year.  The travel time from end to end on the EW corridor will be 33 minutes, and on the NS corridor will be 28 minutes.  The second phase comprising 51km would involve the extension of both the first two lines and the construction of an additional line.

4. While the stations are contemporary keeping in mind Bengaluru’s erstwhile architecture and materials, there have been competitions floated for developing communication concepts for the interior space of some stations too.
5. Though at present 43 stations are being constructed which would get completed by 2015 the DBR (Design Basis report) issued by BMRCL shows an approval for 162 stations which means that in future, there would be tributaries on the NS and EW corridors.
6. The only complaint that could possibly be related to this metro is the lack of transparency and the shirking of public involvement in the project.

Hyderabad Metro

1. Spanning over 71km, the phase 1 would include three traffic corridors covering a total of 72 km and 66 stations.
2. A completely elevated system, prepared by DMRC. Designed to cater to 50,000 people in one hour
3. Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd (HMR) is the SPV set to look after the project which has been allotted to L&T in PPP mode.

4. Hyderabad MRTS which is the country’s first two-track elevated city transit system, has been much delayed since 2008
5. The HMR is confident that by 2015 the entire project would finish.

6. The travel time for the metro rail is 45 minutes for Corridor I, 22 minutes for Corridor II and 39 minutes for Corridor III.
7. The metro stations are being designed keeping the local architecture in mind. The Metro that will rest on massive concrete pillars along the central median of the roads will prove a boon for the city.

The Future

1. MRTS is the best way to decongest traffic. However, a number of considerations should be kept in mind in order to run a successful MRTS.
2. “Viability of metro projects depend upon correct defining of traffic corridors, technology adapted, availability of land, volume of traffic carried, capacity utilization and acceptance of the mode by the commuters,”
3. Conclusively, transport needs to be made an integral part of urban design/master plan of the city as it cannot be delineated to aseparate entity. A multi-modal transportation system would ensure the use of MRTS to its best potential.Cont..
4. The uncertainty about MRTS, which has plagued the importance of such systems in India seems to be resolving.
5. Though the Kolkata metro was designed without a rule book and the Delhi Metro was designed on international norms

 

Training:

1. The National Mass Transit and Training Research Institute (NMTTRI) in Mumbai (established by MMRDA), is one of its kinds in Asia imparting training and research on mass transit systems.

2. The annual training courses cater to key issues like Public Transport Security, Safety and Emergency/Disaster Management, Noise Pollution & Abatement Measures for Urban Transportation, Integrated Ticketing, and seamless Travel across Modes and Intelligent Transportation System.

CONCLUSION

1. Even though the Metro systems are more reliable, comfortable and safer than road-based systems & it reduces congestion on the roads, the systems planned in India show cost overrunning and under utilization of capacity.

2. High capacity system does not necessarily generate high demand.
3. Immense thought & planing is needed for such expensive and expansive projects.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.