Metro Rail News Oct 2022 Issue

H O U S E R& D

Urbanization, economic growth and future-centric transport system

Demand for transportation services and infrastructure has increased since the early 1990s thanks to India’s expanding economy. India needs effective and dependable urban transportation networks to maintain its rapid economic expansion. Urban transportation is important in India because it helps lower poverty by facilitating better access to labour markets and raising incomes in underprivileged areas. Industries like services and manufacturing, which are concentrated in and around big cities, need effective and dependable urban transportation systems to transfer workers and link manufacturing sites to the supply chain.

With urban transportation infrastructure serving as the framework of the urban form, mobility flows have emerged as a crucial dynamic in the increasing urbanisation of Indian cities. Despite the rising rates of urban mobility in Indian cities, it is become more and more inconvenient, expensive, and timeconsuming to access locations, activities, and services. In fact, the current state of urban mobility is already creating a crisis condition marked by extreme levels of traffic congestion, air pollution, road fatalities, and unfairness, which will eventually result in an unfavourable accessibility catastrophe.

Cities and towns are essential for fostering economic development and prosperity. India has fewer than one-third of its population living in cities and towns, but these places provide more than twothirds of the nation’s GDP and make up 90% of the country’s tax revenues. Urban regions will be essential to maintaining India’s high rates of economic growth in the next years as the country continues to urbanise at a rapid pace. However, the pace of economic expansion can only be maintained if and when cities operate effectively, making the best use of their resources to increase their share of the national revenue.

The efficiency with which people and things are transported across the city

is a key factor in a city’s overall efficiency. A lack of competitiveness in both home and foreign markets may result from inadequate transportation networks, which hinder economic growth and development. Indian cities experience more traffic congestion, delays, pollution, and accidents than cities in industrialised nations, while having a lower rate of vehicle ownership and fewer vehicles per capita than their counterparts in developed nations.

India’s mobility issues can be addressed in part by developing a more sophisticated, modern freight service that can carry goods more quickly with a safer, more effective, and clean urban public transportation infrastructure. They support the expanding requirements of the populace and energise an expanding economy like that of India. A fresh and more pertinent attention is being placed on green mobility as part of India’s developing social infrastructure and digital revolution. In terms of both public transportation and freight movement, advocates are pushing for a more modern, sustainable urban mobility.

Some of the areas where India is making quick progress are the rail-based Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS), Light Rail Transport System (Metrolite), MetroNeo, and Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS).

The future of mobility must put people first. It is possible to put the user at the centre of an integrated system by understanding how people use technology and how businesses and citizens make decisions. It has the answers to better understanding and maximising the acceptance, adoption, and impact of emerging technology. With the aid of behavioural and social science, we can better design our physical environment and its transportation system around users, enabling technology to enhance both people’s quality of life and society as a whole.

Managing Editor Narendra Shah

It gives us immense pleasure to present our October issue covering the regular columns, exclusive interviews, various project updates and other details which are presented for your reading.

Narendra Shah Managing Editor Metro Rail News

(A Symbroj Media Publication)

E-mail: editor@metrorailnews.in

BUILT TO LAST. DELIVER.

Best Warehouse Service Provider

Cold Chain/ Refrigerated Service

Shri Piyush Goyal Ji, Hon’ble Minister

handed

Urbanization, economic growth and future-centric transport system

OF THE MONTH

The Greater Nashik Metro : Plan to ease traffic with a modern transport system

BY METRO RAIL

METRO

Kozhikode Metro

A light Metro system for ancient city of Calicut

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) Metro

Light Metro for the Evergreen City of India

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

FEATURED PROJECT

Gorakhpur Metrolite: A modern transport system for a fast developing City

COVER STORY

Operational efficiencies in Railways & Metros

SUBURBAN RAIL

Suburban / Commuter Rail : Nagpur & Coimbatore broad-gauge Metro

EXCLUSIVE MEDIA INTERVIEW

Suburban Rail: Bengaluru & Ahmedabad

TENDERS LIVE

News Highlights

Metro Rail

Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation has shared the aerial view of World class Agra Metro Depot on its Twitter handle. Agra inching closer toward the goal of attaining a world-class metro rail system. Worldclass Agra Metro Depot is being constructed for the first corridor of Agra Metro.

The depot will be used for stabling and maintaining the metro trains inside the depot area after day-long operations.

MPMRCL to begin a trial run on the 5.9 KM Indore metro corridor by September 2023

The 5.9-kilometre metro rail corridor trial run in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, would take place by September 2023.

Nikunj Shrivastava, managing director of Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MPMRCL), met with members of the public and the neighbourhood administration.

Six stations out of 29 were proposed to be built underground.

On September 14, 2019, the first phase of the metro rail project’s foundation was officially laid. An estimated cost of Rs 7,500.84 crore is being spent on the construction of the metro rail project along the 31.55 km-long track.

Various structures are being made inside Agra Metro Rail Depot using the PEB Technique (Pre Engineered Building ) Technique which is a modern technique for building various civil structures and uses comparatively lesser time, and effort and is more efficient.

The 5.9-kilometre metro rail corridor trial run in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, would take place by September 2023.

Nikunj Shrivastava, managing director of Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MPMRCL), met with members of the public and the neighbourhood administration.

Six stations out of 29 were proposed to be built underground.

Construction of Agra metro inching toward a goal of attaining world-class metro rail system

On September 14, 2019, the first phase of the metro rail project’s foundation was officially laid. An estimated cost of Rs 7,500.84 crore is being spent on the construction of the metro rail project along the 31.55 km-long track. Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, is investing Rs 975 crore in Pune IT City Metro Rail, a special purpose vehicle that obtained the contract to build, operate, and maintain the project between Shivaji Nagar and Hinjewadi in the city.

74% of the SPV is owned by Tatas, and the other 25% is owned by Siemens Project Ventures. The Maharashtra and Union governments each have a 50% share in the development of the Pune metro rail. Tata Sons, which had standalone debt of Rs 30,000 crore as of March this year, is planning to raise funds via issuing non-convertible debentures. Tata Sons are also looking at listing its satellite TV broadcasting arm, Tata Play, to raise around Rs 3,200 crore.

Indian Railways

L&T wins contract to lay tracks for Chennai Metro Phase II Corridor

Tata Sons to invest Rs 975 crore in Pune IT City Metro Rail

Indian Railways float tender for manufacturing high-speed trains wheel in India

SILVER PARTNER

Indian Railway has floated a tender to manufacture High-speed train wheels in India to boost the Modi government’s Make-in-India drive. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that establishing a plant will guarantee the yearly purchase of at least 80,000 wheels for 600 crore rupees.

The estimated cost of setting up a production unit is close to Rs 1,000 crore, and that the tender is only open to Indian companies. The ministry earlier relied on imports from Europe for these specialized wheels. The issue came to light when national transporter recently ordered 39,000 semi-forged wheels from a Chinese manufacturer, alleging interrupted European supply chains on account of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Ashwini Vaishnaw the Union Minister for Railways stated that India is developing hydrogen-powered trains, and they will be ready by 2023. The numbers of advantages come with the use of hydrogen and in particular, green hydrogen as a rail fuel, including supporting zero carbon goals as a clean energy source.

Only Germany has so far created hydrogen-powered trains. Germany introduced the first fleet of hydrogenpowered passenger trains this year. At a cost of about $92 million, the French company Alstom developed 14 trains with hydrogen fuel cell drive.

Central Railway set up EV charging facilities at Important stations in Mumbai divisions

Central Railway, contributing to the Government’s endeavor to reduce carbon emissions, has set up 9 EV (Electric Vehicle) charging facilities at important stations in Mumbai Division.

Central Railway has provided EV charging facilities at 9 stations i.e Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Dadar, Byculla, Parel, Kurla, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Bhandup, Kalyan, and Panvel. EV charging facilities at these important Railway stations will boost e-mobility, as an important step towards environmental stability as it reduces carbon emission as well as improves the quality of life of people apart from facilitating low maintenance requirements.

India received its first indigenously made hydrogen fuel cell bus last month, which was developed by KPIT-CSIR in Pune.

Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBRP).

The service will open for the residents of both states to use inland waterways to advance their commerce, tourism, and cargo transportation.

Indian Railways to float tender to increase high speed mobility

Railways Ministry is going to float mega tenders for rail tracks. The tenders to be floated this month by the government has the biggest USP that it would be a big push for the Make in India. Private players will be invited and they will be asked to manufacture the rail tracks here in India to meet the requirement of the Indian Railways. Once, those requirements are met then efforts shall also be made to increase the exports.

Along with this multi 100 crores tenders, the Railway ministry has a clause of assured off-take every year from the private players, a separate or new manufacturing unit could be set up by the private players.

The tracks will have high parameters the Global standard is going to meet from this tender.

The north east region has received support from central government for multimodal connectivity. Railway’s Riverfront Passenger Jetty was inaugurated at Bogibeel Road-cumRailway Bridge on the 19th of September. This will create new chances by making use of the Brahmaputra River’s potential.

The longest river cruise service in the nation will be launched in Assam in 2023. It will be operational between Bogibeel and Varanasi. It will travel more than 4,000 kilometers. The route will link the

Northeast receives support for Multimodal Connectivity

India’s first Hydrogen Power Train to be ready by 2023

High-speedTrain

of the modernization programme of the Indian Railways. Rail coach interiors, bathroom modules, aerodynamic front ends, driver cab interiors, and hard seating systems are among the products offered by the Railways.

RDSO will now inspect the trains. After due scrutiny the new train sets shall get safety clearance for operations and runon track.

The Indian Railways hopes to operate 75 brand-new Vande Bharat trains by 15th August next year. To achieve the railway’s goal of having seven to eight trains available each month the construction of these trains has been expedited.

India’s semi-high-speed train, the “Vande Bharat” express, broke the record of the bullet train during a test run between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. In just 52 seconds, the third Vande Bharat train reached a speed of 100 km/h. The train has finished its test run and received all necessary approvals to start operating for pay.

During the trial, the Vande Bharat train also broke the record of the bullet train. The train reached the speed from 0-100 kmph in 52 seconds as compared to the earlier version which attained the same speed in 54.6 seconds.

Kerala Rail Development Corporation Ltd (K-Rail) stated that there is still a chance to receive foreign funding for its flagship SilverLine Semi High-Speed Rail Corridor project. Four organizations including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have submitted requests for overseas loans to the respective central ministry. If the railway board presents a favourable report for the projects then only the ministry will grant the proposals. The central ministry advised K-Rail in response to the RTI request that the SilverLine project had been removed from the list of projects eligible for funding from JICA.

According to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the central government has acquired over 89 percent of the land needed for the ambitious MumbaiAhmedabad High-Speed Rail Project. The execution of the nation’s first bullet train, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad HighSpeed Rail (MAHSR) project has been delayed due to a delay in land acquisition in the state of Maharashtra, as well as subsequent delays in the finalization of contracts due to the unfavorable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union Minister stated in his written response to a question in the Lok Sabha.

RRTS Update

Kineco bags the contract for Interior work of Train-18

Indo-National Ltd. subsidiary Kineco Ltd won a contract for 113-crore order for Interior work of Vande Bharat SemiHigh Speed trains being manufactured at Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai. According to a regulatory filing from its parent company, Kineco also received the largest order consisting of 68 train fronts for the Vande Bharat trains. Shekhar Sardessai, the founder and managing director of Kineco, claimed that the company has long been at the forefront

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai and inspected Vande Bharat trains. After examining, he handed over the trains to Railway’s R&D division, the Lucknow based Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO). The

The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), which is operating the 82-kilometer highspeed corridor between Delhi and Meerut, has developed the notion of providing customers of the Delhi-Meerut Regional

K-Rail continues with efforts for foreign funding

Indian Railways to operate seventy-five Train-18 by 2023

Eighty Nine percent land aquisitions for MumbaiAhmedabad HSR

Vande Bharat train breaks the record of a bullet train, 100km in just 52 seconds

NCRTC implement Double-Tap AFC system for the country’s first Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor

Rapid Transit System (RRTS) access to a premium class coach option.

A premium class coach will be added, which may be accessible through premium lounges at stations to encourage people who are currently traveling with their own vehicles. The notion of a premium class coach was conceived to persuade those who are now using private automobiles to switch to RRTS without compromising comfort. The goal of minimizing traffic congestion on roadways would be furthered by the modal shift.

The work of installation of the Platform Screen Doors (PSDs) at RRTS stations on the Delhi-Ghaziabad Meerut RRTS corridor has been started. It has been started from Guldhar RRTS station of the priority section. In this process, various parts of platform screen doors such as automatic sliding doors, fixed door panels, platform end gates, emergency escape doors and fixed screens are being installed on the platform.

NCRTC has given utmost importance to the safety of passengers since its inception. The installation of platform screen doors is another such step in this direction. Platform screen doors will be integrated with RRTS train doors and the ETCS Level-2 signalling system resulting in train doors opening and closing simultaneously with platform screen doors. For the safety of the passengers, the train will run only when the doors of the train and platform screen doors are closed.

and it will be the first RRTS stretch to be operational in March 2023, officials of the project executing agency, National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), stated.

The first two trains have been delivered to the NCRTC by the Savli manufacturing facility in Gujarat, and a third train would be delivered to the Duhai depot in Ghaziabad shortly official added. A control center at the Duhai depot will oversee all train operations for the priority section.

The Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project’s first train in the nation would likely start its trial run in November. The first RRTS train will be tested on the 17-kilometer priority section in Ghaziabad, and it will be the first RRTS stretch to be operational in March 2023, officials of the project executing agency, National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), stated.

The first two trains have been delivered to the NCRTC by the Savli manufacturing facility in Gujarat, and a third train would be delivered to the Duhai depot in Ghaziabad shortly, officials added. A control center at the Duhai depot will oversee all train operations for the priority section.

The Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project’s first train in the nation would likely start its trial run in November. The first RRTS train will be tested on the 17-kilometer priority section in Ghaziabad,

The Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) Corridor spans 82 Kms between Meerut and Delhi which can cover in less than an hour. For the convenience of commuters, RRTS also promises fully serviced studio flats in south Delhi’s Jangpura for people planning a short stay in the city. Apartments are being built in a 15-floor building next to the Jangpura RRTS station by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) which is executing the RRTS project.

NCRTC will first build 149 units, comprising 96 studios and a few singlebedroom apartments. The area of a onebedroom apartment is 81 square metres, compared to 45.7 square metres for studio apartments. The studio apartments are designed for tourists who are travelling to Delhi for official or personal work and will only need to stay for a short time.

RRTS to offer studio flats in South Delhi for short stay

RRTS: Installation of PSD starts in priority section

Trial run of RRTS first train will start in November from Ghaziabad

Teltronic to supply and integrate broadband solutions for Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor

Operational efficiencies in Railways & Metros

Abstract

With rising fuel costs, enormous pollution levels and congested roads, the dependence on the Metro rails increasing steadily.

Especially in the cities, Metro Rail has proven its merit in being economical, reliable, secure and a quick mode of transportation for the millions of people dependent on public transport.

There was a time when only the city of Kolkata boasted of the presence of a metro rail. Overcoming struggles and bureaucratic hurdles, the metro rail in India has come a long way.

Over the past few years, India has witnessed a massive spike in metro rail dependency. This rapid explosion has led to vast expansion projects in major cities across the country.

The scale of this development has made it necessary to develop innovative improvements in design, construction and operations. To plan and expand the metro rail network, advanced technologies have to be employed to bring about innovative, efficient and economical solutions. By applying intelligent computerized systems and using current technological trends, the metro rail operations system can be vastly strengthened. At every level of the Metro rail planning and implementation, integrating innovative digital solutions like automation and data exchange will help achieve optimal levels of functioning. In addition, adopting and adapting new technologies helps attain effectiveness and efficiency in metro rail operations.

The various operations and maintenance solutions that is helping improve functionality and efficiency in metro rail operations are be illustrated as under:

1. Project Management Information System: Metro rail projects are becoming increasingly complex as projects grow and technology improves. The need for quality projects to be delivered on schedule with cost-effectiveness is the need of the hour. The idea is to introduce a real-time monitoring, quick and predictive management solution instead of a reactiveplanning mechanism. This necessitates sophisticated Project Management Information System (PMIS) technologies to be adopted to improve the efficiency and quality of projects. By integrating modules such as Contract Management, Multidimensional Project Planning, Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Vendor Management, the PMIS data and reports can

be used to mitigate risks. The data acquired can be used to understand risk factors, resource utilization and scheduling of projects.

2. Automated Measuring Systems and Diagnostic tools: To spearhead a metro rail project the use of cutting-edge technologies is essential. Real-time data and analytics can be acquired by using automated measuring systems and diagnostic tools for monitoring each type of infrastructure. By incorporating these technologies, efficiency is achieved in asset management such as Signalling, Telecom, Rolling stock, OHE, PSI, Lifts, Escalators, Track, Civil, Architecture, AFC, and MEP. The intelligent, technology-driven solution also tracks requirements regarding solar energy generation, reduction of carbon footprint and compliance with environment-friendly guidelines.

3. Smart Depot and Station Solutions: Efficiently designed, operationally sustainable and user-friendly urban transport systems are a requirement today. Viable means of efficiency can be achieved by introducing Smart depot and station solutions that handle various assets. Some of the assets that can be managed in this Smart depot and station solutions are: Engineering operations and maintenance, Scheduling of trains, Train fitment analysis, Depot-shunting operations, Approved workflows for safety and crew control, and Track testing for safe and smooth metro rail operations.

4. Health-Safety-Environment Solutions: Construction sites are the most hazardous among all workplaces and the need to sufficiently control activities to avoid potential risks is crucial. It

is vital to consider the need for health-safety and environmental solutions that span the entire lifecycle of the metro rail, starting from construction to operations and maintenance. By incorporating various procedures, risk evaluations, guidelines, system implementation formats, checklists and work instructions, solutions are developed to ensure safety in the workplace. The Health-Safety-Environment solutions span across various managements divisions like Construction safety management, Inspection Management, Operations, Maintenance, Incident management, Occupational and health management, Emergency preparedness and response management.

5. Employee Self-Service Portals: Employee self-service (ESS) portals are web-based tools that enable employees to access relevant information and conduct certain transactions from a centra listed database. ESS portals provide ease of access and various benefits for employees. Information is consolidated into a user-friendly database which helps employees access relevant information and helps them align with organizational objectives. By incorporating these ESS tools, quicker response time with better decision-making skills can be attained among employees.

6. Crew Management Solutions: With rising demands, there is a need for a well-planned infrastructure and crew management in Metrorail operations. By providing automated solutions and insights into various sectors in operations management, efficiency and flexibility is achieved. Crew Management solutions (CMS) helps manage metro operations across networks, depots, lines, stations, trains, trips, train operators and duty management. Crew Management Solutions look to integrate various devices like biometrics, breath-analyzers, photo-capture and Tetra-mobile-communication devices to foster a safe, healthy and efficient work environment. In addition, the CMS also supports operation necessities like regular maintenance of stations and trains, the inclusion of new types of metro lines and considering and implementing customer feedback.

7. Analytics and KPIs: Operations management is all about efficiency: maximizing resource use to increase quality and profitability. Timely and accurate information is the requirement for achieving operations efficiency. Operations dashboards that are driven by data and analytics makes operations management effective. By incorporating these advanced dashboards, there is space for strategic planning and efficient decision-making. These business intelligence visualization and data reporting tools monitor business processes and track the performance of metrics and key performance

indicators (KPIs). Obtaining data from various operational & maintenance parameters like finance, external projects, operations and maintenance information of train running, delays, detrainment, energy consumptions, crew monitoring and management information, and the like helps in identifying trends. Analytics-driven solutions document these trends and, the information obtained is used for corrective actions and additional analysis to improve overall metro network and operations performance. Taking a step towards leading-edge, data and analytics-driven metro-rail solutions put us on the map for coming up with continuous innovations and improvements. By incorporating the above solutions, all phases of the metro network: Planning, Construction, Launch, Operations, Management and Facilitating expansion projects can be easily handled. With innovative and technologically advanced solutions, the operations and maintenance activities can be easily accomplished which help in taking up new demands that only enable the metro rail in becoming safer, smarter and more digitally integrated.

Railways

Operation of railway services has progressed a lot since the advent of the first locomotive. Railways is the most preferred mode of transport for more than 70% of the population. With changing times, railway operations and services have developed with better orientation towards customers. Management of railways, ticketing systems and availability of services are now developed to be stronger catering to the need of larger customers.

The need of railways has become impervious with growing population and especially in a country such as India, expansion as well as improvement of railways is a necessity. In Indian context, the existent railway infrastructure seems to be lackadaisical with number of inadequacies in service and satisfaction. Even though technological advancements are integrated in the system, ICT (Information and Communications Technology) is to be utilized more pervasively.

Information and communication technology has had a central role in railways right from its inception. Since the beginning, telephone and communication lines were carried along railway routes, as communication was crucial in railway operations. Even in modern times, improvement of railway services and operations is difficult without integration of strong IT systems. Railway systems have improved in various fronts with extensive usage of ICT. Some of the most important advancements are in fields of Security, Operations, Customer Services and access to railway services.

Security is paramount in railway operations; on it depends the lives of millions of commuters. There are examples of many tragic accidents of trains where thousands lost their lives, some of which happened because of communication lapse and technical glitches in the system. A secure network, aided by excellent communication systems, is indispensable to guarantee security in railway transportation. Utilization of high-capacity digital technology with comprehensive set of functionalities has now become the heart of modern rail operations. New technologies such as high bandwidth systems and IP based networks are being developed for strengthening safety and security features in railways. Voice data and train control messages are critical for strong security. IP and Ethernet technologies are bringing in new aspects of secured railway networks.

These systems are the backbone of alarm systems, Video surveillance, and remote access monitoring and equipment telemetry. Advancement of ICT has developed the overall operations within railway management. Railway systems based on IP and MPLS Networks enables delivery of diverse modes of communication and traffic. Such system facilitates developed mode of operations within the system for better performance of railway traffic. The system can be integrated to improve various aspects such as site access control, Video surveillance, remote access monitoring and equipment telemetry and so on. Corporate LAN networks integrated with public address systems can be created using advanced ICT. RFID based freight consignment tracking can be implemented improving railway freight services.

One of the most important contributions of ICT in railways is in the domain of customer service and access to information. Railway systems are integrated with efficient and real-time frontend IT platforms for improvised customer services. Modern railway systems have to deal with massive commuters and an increasing transportation of goods. Moreover, the need of better services has increased with the requirement of more pervasive railway services. Real time information system is a crucial aspect of customer service. Passenger inquiry about availability of trains, arrival and departure schedules at stations and status of booked tickets are some of the aspects that serves as parameters of customer satisfaction of railway services. In fact, they are the most important facets for access to railway service. For a huge and complicated railway network system such as India, efficient use of ICT can certainly make a difference. Passenger ticketing and inquiry systems are being developed to be highly service oriented to provide an ‘ease of access’ to customers. In present times, railway information systems are being integrated to mobile services. Adding to this, many web applications are being developed through which

railway services can be accessed via mobile devices.

However, much is still desired and left to be done when it comes to information dissemination. Railways sit on huge reams of information that is either unorganized or not looked into at all. Much of the information is generated and consumed at local or station level and is still prone to manual errors as often seen in the ETA predictions. There is no single source of information and consumers often have to hunt for the information they are looking for.

The use of ICT is imperative in railways. Digital technology can make railway services more secure and safe. Customer oriented features providing a range of services can be developed to make access of railways simplified and comfortable.

Recent Developments

The Indian railway system is the fourth largest in the world but almost 80 per cent of the system has been operational since the colonial period. Thus, there is a pressing need for Indian Railways (IR) to rapidly upgrade and modernise its system, operations, maintenance and infrastructure, including fixed and rolling stock. In the past few years, IR’s rolling stock has been upgraded. For instance, it is now deploying LHB coaches, air brakes and composite brakes and replacing mild steel wagons with stainless steel wagons. Currently, it is also using bogiemounted brakes and centre buffer couplings on its network.

However, on the maintenance front, IR is yet to achieve a number of progresses. It still carries out a sizeable number of manual examinations of its system, wherein once a wagon operates for 4,000-5,000 km, it is inspected manually and the defective wagons are marked sick and withdrawn from the operational rolling stock. These are then sent for periodic overhaul/routine overhaul. Even today, every year or biannually, a global census is carried out to determine the location of such wagons. This is a major challenge because IR currently deploys more than 9,500 locomotives globally. To overcome this issue and reduce the time and effort dedicated to carrying out this activity, IR today is deploying radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on rolling stock to monitor the health of the cars/locomotives and conduct periodic maintenance.

Further, life cycle costing of rolling stock is very difficult to determine. Besides the procurement cost, a lot of investment is being made on overhauling, repairing, operating and maintaining the rolling stock till it is withdrawn from operations. This is 500-600 per cent of the procurement cost. Therefore, focus is being done on automating the train examination instead of doing it manually. The maintenance hence, shall be scheduled based on quantitative data.

• The traffic on IR has been rising consistently for the past few years and the trend is expected to continue while the rail infrastructure didn’t grow simultaneously in line and proportion with the increasing traffic for a number of years. Realising this, IR is now progressing with scheduled maintenance and also devising ways to carry out predictive maintenance based on condition monitoring in all areas of railways, including, tracks, signalling and rolling stock.

IR is also optimising its maintenance efforts based on the condition of various assets. For this purpose, it is introducing a number of technologies such as information technology (IT)based maintenance system of all assets, supervisory control and data acquisition systems for overhead equipment, etc. IR is using ultrasonic testing and mobile ultrasonic testing and also testing fibre optics to detect rail fractures. To uniquely identify a rolling stock and predict its condition and maintenance needs, RFID tags are being fitted in the rolling stock. IR is also taking steps to upgrade wagons, signalling systems and coaches.

IR is further using technology that is helping in estimating residual and real-time stress on rail tracks. This will enable it to detect stress on rail tracks much before the fracture occurs. It is also working on deploying technology which will help in detecting underground faults and improve rail maintenance.

• The various technological solutions for railways cover the complete rail life cycle including planning, design and construction of railway tracks, bridges and stations, and moving on to operations and maintenance with a key emphasis on ensuring safety that is helping IR achieve its major goals – from launching high speed trains to enhancing passenger safety and operational efficiency. Today, IR is using sensor-based structural monitoring system that is being deployed on railway tracks and coaches for greater safety and efficiency. The sensors can continually monitor track movement in real time and raise alerts in case they detect any cracks or abnormality, allowing the signalling room to stop the train and prevent a derailment.

The automatic wayside train inspection systems, on-board rail and track measurement and inspection systems, as well as hand-held products for wheel and track measurement have been installed on a number of segments. Several of systems are planned to be deployed on remaining routes.

• CRIS today takes up all IT systems proposed by the Ministry of Railways. It is deploying the RFID technology in rolling stock, which is planned to be rolled out completely by Dec2022. It is also conducting track enhancement, GIS mapping, etc. However, CRIS is facing a twofold challenge – translating IR’s requirements into IT systems and convincing IR that the desired benefits can be derived from the systems that CRIS is deploying. Abundant data is available with CRIS and every year data is added to the existing database.

But efficient utilisation of this data will be possible only if CRIS gets support from IR. Standard systems don’t apply to IR and this reiterates the need for detailed discussions with IR about its technological needs and specifications. For analysing the data properly, CRIS is taking assistance from the IT industry and research and educational institutions. For instance, IIT Madras is helping CRIS in ensuring optimum utilisation of passenger rolling stock and berths. It is helping it redesign its analytics system so that it generates more revenue. Earlier, IIT Bombay had also advised CRIS on asset management and train operations. CRIS is currently seeking help for optimum utilisation of tracks so that multiple trains can operate simultaneously, which will help IR increase revenues tremendously.

• Rolling stock and rail tracks are constantly interacting and need to evolve together. Rail tracks have a fatigue limit, which

may get exceeded at times due to impact forces resulting from imperfections in the wheel like a flat wheel, material deposits, out of round wheel, broken springs or pads, etc. on railway tracks. IR is currently planning for 25 tonnes of axle load, which is much higher than its design capacity. Due to this, the defect generation rate will go up by almost 15 per cent. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop a technology which can detect the fractures, if they take place, to avoid any mishap on passenger and freight trains.

Disruptions also occur due to various other factors such as trains switching to high speeds or semi-high speeds. In such cases, curvatures are not compatible for trains operating at such high speeds. Upgradation is always an option but this would entail huge investments. Moreover, the railways are being utilised at 140-160 per cent of its capacity. The rapidly growing economy is putting an additional burden on the existing lines. Thus, the RDSO is currently undertaking ultrasonic flaw detection testing of rails and welds by deploying new systems that are in use globally. The RDSO is also undertaking condition monitoring of assets using high resolution cameras. These cameras can be installed in the rolling stock plying on the tracks. Recently, single-shot welding has been introduced. The RDSO is the technology wing of IR and is identifying and coming up with ideas and innovations that will cater to its changing operating regime. For instance, it has invited expressions of interest to deploy under-sleeper pads, which is a very new concept for IR. However, with such high axle loads – freight trains carrying 25 tonnes and passenger trains carrying 18-22 tonnes – readymade solutions for a host of problems encountered by IR may not be available.

Summary

In transportation industries, railways are one of the backbones of transportation in countries like India, China, Russia, UK, Australia and other parts of the world. This railway transportation business is very huge, and the operation and maintenance of these equipment’s are very tough. Hence, the operation and maintenance organization are looking for optimization of the processes in order to reduce cost. They are using different techniques to reduce the operational as well as maintenance cost. In this research paper the main aim is to optimize the remote condition maintenance equipment used in the railway systems and to discuss the benefits of implementation of the remote condition monitoring equipment’s. This process of optimization helps in early detection of failures so the

equipment downtime can be minimized, and productivity can be maximized.

Maintenance of railways is one of the most complicated and challenging tasks to be carried out by railway infrastructure managers worldwide and huge efforts is required in terms of time and costs. In this context railways services needs to be highly reliable and the equipment and appliances must be kept in good working conditions and hence requires regular maintenance. So, innovative maintenance solutions for railway systems are needed to integrate maintenance and operation in order to ensure safety management of the railways as well as rolling stock. The common approach used in the railways systems are:

(i) The Preventive Railway Maintenance

(ii) Corrective Railway Maintenance

(iii) The Predictive Railway Maintenance

Preventive Railway Maintenance is a piece of work regularly performed in order to monitor the situation (Status) or the conditions of a railway equipment in order to reduce the chances of failure. This can be recognized based on identification of bad health of an equipment and preventive measures taken for better reliability of the whole system.

Corrective maintenance is a task which is usually done to identify, isolate and resolve a fault. This failed or fault equipment can be replaced or restored to an operational condition within the limits established for in-service operations.

Predictive maintenance techniques are commonly designed in order to determine and predict the condition of failures and detailed forecast is ensured and this approach helps the companies in saving cost.

It may also be quoted that metro rails are critical infrastructures with high CAPEX investments and a large social impact. This mandates that the O&M be run extremely efficiently. O&M providers ensure high Service Level Agreement adherence, thereby creating the right image for all stakeholders involved within the larger public circles. This also helps the developers of the metro to concentrate on their core functions and capabilities.

The rapidly growing metro market in India has brought in focus the various aspects of a typical metro rail project, one of the most significant areas being Operations & Maintenance (O&M). It is interesting that the metro rail market realises the importance of this critical infrastructure and is actively pursuing budgets for O&M for asset longevity, a novel concept in India.

O&M services include all functions of service deliveries like train service operations, station operations, customer service, ticketing and fare collection, marketing, web-site management, operator involvement in solution development & implementation, control centre management, passenger demand management, security management, asset management planning and deployment, rolling stock maintenance including overhauls and refurbishments, stations and depot facility management, track and structures, signalling and traction power maintenance and many more functions.

EXCLUSIVE

INTERVIEW

Responses attributed to RK Shenoy, Executive Leadership Team Member, and Senior VP, Mobility Engineering, Bosch Global Software Technologies (BGSW)

since 1986 Carrying overall 31yrs of experience.

Bosch Global Software Technologies

Private Limited (BGSW) is a 100% owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH. They are one of the world’s leading global suppliers of technology and services, offering end-to-end Engineering, IT, and Business Solutions.

With a global footprint and presence in the US, Europe, Japan, China, and the Asia Pacific region, they are at the forefront of designing, developing, and executing IoT ecosystems through our all-encompassing capability within the 3 aspects of IoT – Sensors, Software, and Services.

RK Shenoy Executive Leadership Team Member, and Senior VP, Mobility Engineering, Bosch Global Software Technologies (BGSW)

MetroRail News conducted an email interview with RK Shenoy, Executive Leadership Team Member, and Senior VP, Mobility Engineering, Bosch Global Software Technologies (BGSW). In the interview, R.K. Shenoy talked about the Smart Mobility.

R.K. Shenoy is Senior Vice President of Global center for Powertrain Electronics and Product Engineering. He is additionally responsible for Smart City, Aero, Railways and Off highway Domains at RBEI. Mr. RK Shenoy has been associated with BOSCH Group

They have always focused on improving the quality of the life of people, providing newer revenue-generating opportunities, and improving operational efficiencies for enterprises through an array of solutions. With their unique ability to offer end-toend solutions that connect Sensors, Software, and Services, they enable businesses to move from the traditional to digital or improve businesses by introducing a digital element in their products and processes.

Here are the edited excerpts: –

Q. What is Smart Mobility as per Bosch Solutions? Is it correct to say that the future of IoT and connected mobility shall be powered by data-driven technologies that would create a whole new customer experience?

As I explained in previous context, 100 years of Automotive domain expertise complimented with 10 years of Cloud

technologies experience at Bosch, India, has led to evolution of a great force of creative engineers delivering complex programs to our customers. In a similar direction, Connected Mobility Solutions with automotive Connectivity hardware and IoT-enabled Cloud based Connected Solutions will be the origin of creating enhanced and new customer experiences powered by data-driven technologies.

Q. How is Bosch helping to provide connected systems and end-to-end analytic solutions to its customers? Is it correct to say that technological afflux shall help users and customers make critical business decisions in the connected future?

Bosch was one of the early innovators in Connectivity Systems/Solutions starting from smartphone integration into vehicle to Connectivity hardware and Cloud-based Connected Solutions. The solutions were innovated in line with Bosch vision, “Invented for life”, to add value to end user in the areas of safety, convenience, and comfort. The data generated out of the vehicle Connected Systems is stored in a structured manner on Cloud, which has led to the evolution of analytics and further enhancement using ML and AI technologies. Data Science Engineers at Bosch add value to our OEMs by providing insights to Engineering and Service teams in identifying and analyzing failures. The analytical solutions support the OEMs to resolve the failures with better turnaround time.

The technology at Bosch has evolved to an extent where critical failures are identified, initial necessary steps to overcome or avoid problem is communicated to end users (safety and

convenience), and second software bug is fixed, and immediate update is pushed over the air (new age ECU) or delivered to the service center (in case of conventional ECU).

As explained above, by helping OEMs to quick analysis of failures and solving errors/failures without much inconvenience to end users, Connected Systems, augmented with end-toend analytic solutions, help OEMs take business decisions that offer advanced features.

Q. How Bosch Air quality solutions helping cities to achieve sustainability goals?

Clean air concerns us all. Bosch’s motto of “Invented for life” also involves an extensive commitment to improving air quality. In addition to Bosch’s own goal of achieving CO2 neutrality in 2020, Bosch is making an even greater contribution to the sustainable, eco-friendly mobility of tomorrow by developing innovative solutions.

We recognize not only our global responsibility for climate action but also our local responsibility for combating air pollution, with technically innovative measures we are contributing to the gradual reduction of pollution in real life scenarios, helping cities for a better & healthier life and improve quality of life of its citizens. In this way, we can contribute to making the world a better place and help conserve natural resources. The Bosch Air Quality portfolio is focused on providing highly precise data & services to assess and improve Air Quality and identify the emission sources in a broad scale. Our working expertise focus from determining microscopic traffic emissions to precisely measuring & modelling the dispersion of air quality, provide high resolution pollutant concentration maps. We use digital technologies to link different air quality expertise and offer a comprehensive view of the eco-system. we’ve been able to demonstrate that steady traffic flows can lead to an almost 20 percent reduction in pollutants.

More details @ https://www.bosch-mobility-solutions. com/en/solutions/air-quality-solutions/ air-quality-solutions/

https://www.bosch.com/stories/ measures-to-reduce-air-pollution/ https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=BGRQvr98M14

Q. The challenge of building such a system often lies in ensuring its security – how does Bosch intend to overcome this and design a system that is both impactful as well as secure?

AQMB (Air Quality Monitoring Box) is an IoT enabled box and protecting the devices, network, and cloud they connect to. As any other publicly installed devices, AQMB faces hostile environment, because of which AQMB is designed with Security as inherent requirements. The security is implemented as per the Bosch SEP which covers the complete product lifecycle from deployment to decommissioning and considers the challenges of the operating environment.

Another challenge in developing security for such low volume products lies in finding the right balance between security measures and investments. The program team (MS/PJ-AQMS) and security expert team (MS/ECE) came together and collaborated to identify the threats, misuse cases, defining the security concepts, security implementation including Penetration tests. The solution is supported Bosch IOT suite cloud services with its state-ofthe-art security also enhancing overall security.

To provide secure IoT solutions and products, we have followed a holistic IoT security approach, which considers the whole lifecycle of solutions and products and covers processes and organizational requirements as well as applied technologies.

Securing an IoT solution is a challenging task, and this is made more challenging by the very long lifetimes IoT devices can have in connected operations. To manage this challenge, oversight and procedures are put into place by Bosch SEP process. It will ensure that when new vulnerabilities and threats are discovered, the foundational means and mechanisms for addressing them are already in place.

Q. A vast amount of data is being generated which is expected to grow exponentially in the connected

EXCLUSIVE

world we live in today. How are Bosch solutions providing a user-centric solution to these issues?

When a vehicle is equipped with Connectivity unit, depending on number of connected features offered to end users, the vehicle data is sent to cloud for storage and further processing. Bosch offers cost effective and smart solutions on various stages of this process:

On Connectivity unit, edge-based algorithms process the raw data, optimize it, and then send over the relevant information to Cloud.

On Cloud, the data is structured and stored in different databases. Recent period data stored in high-speed storage, which can be retrieved quickly based on user action without impacting end user experience. Beyond a period, the data is pushed to low-cost storage and retrieve based on need or upon request.

Q. What according to you is a datadriven business model. Bosch Solutions is acclaimed for its specialized domain knowledge in providing consulting services and solutions for several sectors. What has the major accomplishments in the key areas you are focusing on?

Vehicle data augmented with contextual information and advanced ML; AI led to evolution of new features/services that can be offered to end users. And, generating leads to OEMs/partners opened new business model, which we refer to as a “data-driven business model”.

A few examples for this would be:

Based on location, fuel level and user preferences, suggest personalized POIs

Prediction of vehicle functions degradation – Battery, Fuel pump etc

The examples mentioned above are enabling OEMs, technology, and content partners to earn additional revenue by providing enhanced user experience and savings to end users with data-driven business model. Bosch can successfully implement this model with its expertise in the Automotive domain, complimented by its Cloud technologies expertise.

EXCLUSIVE

INTERVIEW

Our next big push is to work and expand the digital integrator ecosystem: Kaushik Chakraborty, Bentley Systems

Metro Rail News conducted an in-person interview with Mr. Kaushik Chakraborty, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Bentley Systems. In the interview, Mr. Chakraborty talked about Digital Twins and how it is helping to solve the problem of sustainable development of cities.

Here are the edited excerpts: –

Q.1. How is Digital Twins by Bentley Solutions helping to solve the problem of sustainable development of cities?

Ans - Technology is helping, whether it is just digital twin or any other technology. Digital twins are nothing new to manufacturing, starting from aerospace to manufacturing, companies have been using that for many years. The main reason is to optimize the planning, production, and maintenance. Take for e.g., every object in a car which one has brought has a digital twin, which the manufacturer creates at a very early stage. So, what is going to be the behavior of that element in a car after when one has driven it for many kilometers is what digital twins does. Using the technology in a car for e.g., it can be told approximately that what can be probable failure after a certain number of kilometers. That is exactly what digital twins trying to do. The infrastructure industry today has enabled a better RoI on infrastructure by better planning and better execution and the most important part in the evolution towards digital twins is the digitalization and the connectivity between the different parts of the process.

So, traditionally design was done independently, or architecture was done, some engineering analysis was done independently. Construction happened in the site by another company, that company went and reconstruction as they chose to do it. It was convenient and what was most optimal on the situation and then somebody else got that object, whether it’s a train or a building or

Vice President, Asia Pacific, Bentley Systems

Kaushik Chakraborty

whatever, a road. What digital twin does is to help connect all the mainstream technologies and make sure it’s a continuous ecosystem with a feedback loop. So, it is a simple mathematical feedback loop which is introduced into the system. Today due to technologies like digital twins we have things changed with us. People today can create good designs. They are maintaining it well; services are also available downstream which is helping towards sustainable development of the cities

Q.2. When we talk about the metros specifically, how the system benefits all the stakeholders?

Ans - One of the biggest benefits of metro is that metros run very long, they are planned assets for seventy-five years. So, one would need to know what is being built. Take Nagpur metro for example, the first metro in India which is very digital in its construction and planning. A lot of things have been introduced in its design cycles. An incorporation of technologies in design cycles leads to better construction and a better construction leads to better operations.

The metro officials also have updated all their data so that today they have a very good digital representation of what was built, why it was built, what decisions were taken and why it was done. Same is with DMRC where they have focused a lot on more effective construction and more specifically to lower cost of construction because they need to finish things on time as there is an increased demand of metros in Delhi and public really wants it quickly. But they all have fixed budgets. So, how can we deliver things fast on time if we have fixed budget by being more effective at the same time. Hence, it can be said that technology is not a cost, it is an RoI, because we are saving money which can then be used for other things. So, in summation we can say that there is a big update. There is a good positive update and of course much more can be done.

Q.3. What are the major efforts by Bentley towards carbon neutrality. Kindly state the work plan towards UN SDG goals. How do you think dependence on carbon fuels can be done as per UN standards in coming

years?

Ans - To be very specific a lot of things can be done. We personally can do a lot of things internally and then at the level of organization. Promoting the hybrid work from home, work for office kind of environment is one of the prominent steps where the push is to have offices which are smaller but are carbon neutral as it does not need frequent travel of employees. This is something we can do ourselves and then of course, we are looking at various other options as how we can reduce our own carbon footprint by lower travel and various other initiatives like that.

As an organization, what we do for our customers is always look at how they can design better materials, design more effectively and optimize designs so that they can work towards carbon neutrality. Bentley also owns an organization called Seequent. It is a New Zealand based company. Seequent does a lot of work in helping find renewable and geothermal sources of energy. Seequent is one of the most advanced geothermal engineering software companies in the world. Seequent is continuously helping to look for better geothermal and green sources of energy. So, towards carbon neutrality what we think we are doing is multi-faceted.

Bentley is continuously striving towards SDG goals. One of the premiere initiatives that Bentley has been doing for many years in India has been towards water conservation where efforts have been made continuously to provide clean water to every home. The efforts need a mention because providing sustainable water solution to every Indian home need technology-based planning as population is enormous.

So, with a big population with limited resources and deliverables needed in specific time you need to be more effective when you’re planning tasks like water conservation network. Together, it’s not just to optimize the network size but you also must optimize the pumping of water from source to tap. This is where Bentley comes in. Bentley for many years has worked on different method which has helped in implementing ethnological modelling to map water conservation,

supply and other initiatives making sure that water reached places with the lowest cost. Pumping water cost, electricity is expensive, it’s not cheap. Pipes are not cheap, valves are expensive, pumps are expensive, the whole maintenance is expensive, so the more the capex cost of the infrastructure plus the running cost can be reduced the more effective it is considered. It provides more water to the end customers and accordingly it maps the various schemes of the government. Transportation is the other SDG we support with metros and highways and connectivity.

Q.4. In what ways ‘Digital Twin’ technology of Bentley Engineering unique and different from other companies in similar capacity. Kindly mention the benefits of iTwin platform that you have launched recently?

Ans - The iTwin platform is our Digital Twin platform. To sum up in one word what makes us unique is that we have a vision to create a complete open platform. We are never going to be the single platform player in this world. So, for us, most important is that our platform works with different kinds of all our competitor’s software products and all their data. So, our file formats are open-source formats, and a large part of our platform is also available to keep up as an open source. So, we want to encourage more and more people to play with it, to work with it, to use it. We have also recognized that in any infrastructure project, multiple vendor solution will be used. Therefore, interoperability is very key for us in the foundation of our platform and that it should be a platform which integrates with GIS, gets information from it, and of course integrate with components of engineering companies not just Bentley but others like Autodesk, Aviva, Graphic soft and industry format like IFC that can be read seamlessly. We believe in creating a platform where user doesn’t need to do any file transformation. One can seamlessly work with data from our competitor integrated with ERP and IT and of course operations system. So, from different Scada systems or other operation systems integrate all the data so that we can provide you a visualization platform of a decision support platform with the iTwin platform, which allows you to work with you all the information you

have in here.

Q.5. More advanced technologies are being integrated to create shared visual worlds for enhanced experience on physical and photo realism. What are the major challenges in such integration. In what ways these features can be more adaptive and user friendly?

Ans - That is basically the whole concept of iTWIN platform. To have an open platform which integrates data from all the sources, owners of projects or asset operators who are using it. To make it simple we must understand that there is GIS, there is IT, there are technologies operations and an engineering world having existence of Bentley and other competitor products that is being used. So, the whole concept of the iTWIN platform is to be that integration platform to connect all of this in a simple open form. For the complex system and integration to work cloud computing helps a lot. Cloud computing is what makes things adaptive and user friendly. Users don’t need higher machines to perform complex tasks. They can work on simple android or apple to get things done. There are certain challenges like content adaptability to a vast number of users. In a world of changing technologies this becomes a gruesome task sometimes. But as I said the biggest asset with technology is that it improves with time. Towards technology initiatives Bentley is spending a lot of time and energy is trying to make things simple and more accessible via the cloud to as many people as possible.

Q.6. Infrastructural development is a continuous process. What are the major product innovations by Bentley Systems in recent years to introduce enhanced technologies in infrastructure engineering and development?

Ans - We have constant evolution every year at year end infrastructure. We launch new products and through the year we keep announcing new products. Where we have focused a lot in last few couple of years and we continue to focus is the different pillars of innovation that we have. We have new products which we build, new industries which we are trying to address.

Renewable energy for e.g., we didn’t

focus much five years back. Today, renewables are big. Solar is not that complex and difficult, but wind power is challenging. Wind farms on the land are less complex. India is now going to build offshore wind farms. ONGC and NTPC are working for it that creates a whole engineering complexity because those structures must be embedded into the surface of the sea.

We have introduced a product called Occult Wind Power to help design, we have integrated geotechnical engineering from our acquisitions like Lexus and Seequent together with products like Shacks which are for offshore platforms and created something that works for the wind farms, the wind turbines and the windmills which must erected on the seabed. We have seen a lot of success with that in Vietnam, in China and Korea on such projects where there are all picked up faster and that’s something that’s going to come to India.

We have introduced a lot of products. We have focused a lot on the construction industry where we have made a local Indian acquisition. We want to do more, and we are constantly looking more at localizing our innovations and how do we get more local content into our portfolio because it’s then relevant to the market. We also have a Bentley Innovation Fund, and that fund invests in small startups and innovative companies around the world.

Q.7. How are you scaling up with your business in India. What are the major projects on order book. Is there any significant development & initiative towards ‘Make in India’ campaign?

Ans: Towards ‘Make in India’ campaign we are doing local acquisitions. The acquisitions of Nadhi technologies in Chennai and few other Indian groups is towards that effort. Nadhi Technologies is one of the most innovative companies in India in the construction software industry. Their products are being used across real estate, power, highways and of course, metro. Hopefully soon, even in the water treatment plant industry. So, to scale up our business in India we are looking for more local innovations. We also look for the industry to tell us about the good innovative companies

who prefer to become part of the Bentley foundation and now when Bentley has been public for two years and as we as we progress and grow, we are taking services of experts and hiring new manpower. We look for people with expertise in advanced technologies for role and responsibilities.

Therefore, we innovate, and we plan to acquire. We invest in innovation, and we create platforms where people can build solutions. Our next big push is to work and expand the digital integrator ecosystem. People shall use our platform to develop their own. We have signed up companies like WIPRO, LNG technology services. We have become digital twin, iTWIN platform partners. They are looking on building solutions using Bentley’s platform for vertical markets. Our go to market is multi prompt, so we want to get more solution centric with partners and get IP vision supports of which the platform becomes stronger.

Q.8. What would be your message to young talent and technocrats in India willing to join the industry?

Ans - My earnest appeal would be become engineers, study engineering, study IT and help India’s journey in coming five or ten years in the infrastructure engineering. This would be one of the most dynamic and bright spots globally. As I mentioned earlier India is forecast to become the world’s largest construction market. That means there’s so much opportunity. The national infrastructure pipeline is huge. Investments are being made across all sectors. From industrial corridors to highways, to metros, to airports and to water every other possible sector there is a transformation going on which everyone can be part of. Therefore, it would be an exciting career path for engineers. It is also important that engineers should keep themselves upscaling. The technocrats should enhance their skills with usage of more advance technologies. We should also promote women in engineering. It’s time to encourage women power in engineering. Recognize their strength. It’s not only civil but all gambits of engineering where women talent can be of significant contribution. So, let’s unite and promote engineering.

Additionally, what I think we shall soon witness an evolution would be an integrated engineering approach at the bachelor’s level which developed nations like US already had for many years. An integrated approach doesn’t mean that we will not have mechanical, civil electrical or other streams of engineering. But rather, these streams would be available in an integrated approach where several options would be available to learn more and prepare as per industry needs. Looking at the things holistically we’ll find that civil, electrical, mechanical, and other streams of engineering have a lot of things which can co-exist.

Stream like earthquake engineering is a relatively newer concept in India and very few people opt for it. In recent years in India, there’s has been a veryvery big push by the government in resilient infrastructure. We all know that climate is changing. So, spending a stupendous amount on building things which will crumble, and fall is of no use. So, we need resilient infrastructure and for resilient infrastructure we need more

and more engineers, great engineers. We need to spend a lot more focus as a nation on studying the subsurface and doing geotechnical. So, geotechnical engineering is a very undervalued part in engineering studies in India today, given the whole infrastructure size and how many people focus on civil and mechanical and other general streams of engineering. India already has institute like IITs and various other good universities offering best courses in the world. So, more and more advanced courses can be added. Focus on green engineering and a lot many things which can be one.

Q.9. Any special message for our readers. We would like to know your views about Metro Rail News?

Ans - The future is bright. Things are improving. Infrastructure being built, especially metros being developed, there would be some chaos. Roads would be dug; traffic would be congested and there would be other issues. But it would be for an interim period for a brighter

scenario ahead. The Gati Shakti scheme launched recently is the first realization that departments must be coordinated and there is a lot of focus from the prime minister’s office that coordination happens. Clearly, it’s not a static program but an initiative that would evolve and improve. Today different ministries will always talk from the concept of multi modal connectivity with discussions on how to coordinate and work with others. So, we can expect an inter-ministerial coordination to develop that is very important. It truly gives us hope that things will improve and become better with time.

• • •

Your Event Planning & Execution Partner

Degree Solution for-

Meetings

Events Conferences

Launch

Other Ventures.

Taking proactive initiatives aimed at creating more value for your brand

Metro Neo

The Greater Nashik Metro :

Plan to ease traffic with a modern transport system

Abstract

Metro Neo at Nashik is likely to be the first in India. It is designed to cater to the needs of smaller cities and costs much less than heavy metro rail systems, prevalent in many cities in India. The project will comprise a mass transit system along two corridors to provide comfortable, safe, reliable, and fast connectivity between important activity centers and transit hubs; and meet the rising transport demand in the city. The metro neo will have articulated or standard electric coaches with rubber tires and an overhead traction system, and will run on an entirely elevated corridor with a curb guidance system. These electric coaches will also be capable of running on the proposed feeder routes using built-in batteries, which will allow them to run without overhead traction for about 20 km. The batteries will be charged while the trains are operating with overhead traction, and will eliminate any need for separate charging stations.

Metro Neo for Nashik

Metro Neo is an innovative transport system, which will be implemented for the first time in India in Nasik by Maha Metro. The detailed project report (DPR) prepared by Maha Metro is awaiting clearance from Union Cabinet. It is seamless, fast, reliable and cost effective. It will provide travel experience of international standards at par with Metro systems. It is an articulated / bi-articulated trolley bus system with overhead electric traction. The buses will be air conditioned with automatic door closing system, level boarding, comfortable seats, passenger announcement and information system with

electronic display.

It is a state-of-art, comfortable, energy efficient, minimal noise pollution and environment friendly system. It has been designed to negotiate sharp curves and steep gradient with minimal requirement of rehabilitation. The system can be upgraded to Light Metro with incremental cost input in future as per traffic demand. It is an innovative and pioneering project in India and will be the first MRTS to run on rubber tyres. Government of India in year 2019 constituted a committee, under chairmanship of Dr Brijesh Dixit, MD of Maha Metro, for standardization of detailed specifications for a Rubber-Tyred Mass Rapid Transportation System with a view to implement it across India. AC electric coaches (carrying capacity of180/240 passengers) powered by over-head 600-750 V DC power supply will ply in Nasik.

Metro Neo for Warangal

Kakatiya Urban Development Authority (KUDA) had asked Maha Metro to prepare the DPR of Warangal Metro. Maha Metro recommended the use of Metro Neo technology and prepared the DPR accordingly. It saved Rs 2,000 crore of KUDA and made Warangal Metro feasible. KUDA has submitted the report to Telangana Government, which will forward it to the Central Government after vetting it.

Project Details

Nashik Metro, also known as Metro Neo, with 2 electric trolleybus lines totalling 32 kms is a bus rapid transit system proposed to

be built in Nashik, Maharashtra jointly by the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro), City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).

Electric bus coaches on this unique system will be 25 meters long, run on rubber wheels and have a maximum capacity to carry 250 passengers at a time. Overall system capacity is estimated at 15000 PPHPD (Passengers Per Hour Per Direction). Coaches will draw power from an overhead electrical (OHE) system on the elevated portions and use battery-power while operating on the at-grade (road) sections. Nashik Metro Phase 1’s detailed project report (DPR) was prepared by RITES Ltd. and approved by Maharashtra’s cabinet in August 2019. Its approval is currently pending on the Central Government. The state government hopes to receive a loan for its development from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Specifications

Proposed Routes

Line-1

Gangapur – Mumbai Naka

Length

Type

Depot

Elevated & At-Grade

Satpur (7.5 acre)

Number of Stations

Station Names : Gangapur, Jalapur, Ganpat Nagar, Kale Nagar, Jehan Circle, Thatte Nagar, Shivaji Nagar, Ashok Stambh Panchavati, CBS, Mumbai Naka.

CBS and Gangapur Stations will serve as an interchange between both lines.

Line-2 : Gangapur – Nashik Road Railway Station (22 km)

Length : 10 km

Type : Elevated & At-Grade

PROJECT

THE

• Depots : 2 along Nashik Road (5.70 & 4.0 acres)

• Number of Stations : 20

• Station Names : Gangapur, Dhruv Nagar, Shramik Nagar, Mahindra, Shaneshwar Nagar, Trimbak Rd, Satpur Colony, MIDC, ABB Circle, Parijat Nagar, MICO Circle, CBS, Sharda Circle, Dwarka Circle, Gayatri Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Upnagar, Nehru Nagar, Datta Mandir, Nashik Road Railway Station

Metro Feeder Bus Lines

Two feeder corridors have been planned to provide seamless travel and wider coverage. The feeder corridors will run between Satpur Colony via Garware to Mumbai Naka and between Nashik Road via Nandur Naka to Shivaji Nagar on the existing road network. Feeder AC electric coaches will be 12-13 meter long with a carrying capacity of 60-70 passengers.

Line-1 : Mumbai Naka via Garware to Satpur Colony (12 km)

Line-2 : Nashik station to Shivaji-nagar via Nandur Nakka (12km)

Conclusion

Government of India has allocated Rs 2092 cr for state-of-the art Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) for the city of Nashik. It is indeed a moment of great pride for the people/city of Nashik which has been selected for this unique, innovative and prestigious project. The rapid transport system, called METRONEO, is the FIRST such system being developed in this country. The task of providing an efficient, safe, comfortable, reliable, environment friendly and appropriate transport system for the city of Nashik was entrusted to MahaMetro by Govt. of Maharashtra in Nov/Dec 2018. The feasibility report was taken up in January 2019 and after regular consultations with Nashik Municipal Corporation, CIDCO, public representatives and other stakeholders, the DPR was prepared and submitted to the Govt. of Maharashtra for. approval. Govt of Maharashtra on 28.08.19 approved the Nashik City Metro Neo Mass rapid transit system project. The notification from Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA), Govt of India will be issued shortly.

The concept of Metro-Neo was formulated after a very extensive and comprehensive technical consultations, interactions and due diligence with several stakeholders/technical experts. The system is eco-friendly, energy efficient, reliable, safe and capable of providing an efficient mass public transport system which is ideally suitable for the traffic need of cities having population similar to Nashik in India as well as similar cities abroad. Shri Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA), Govt of India, while talking to allstate government secretaries, Urban Development, during the conference held on 22.1.2021 on Metro Neo, Metro lite, Water metro reiterated the use of Metro Neo for tier 2/3 cities of India.

Government of India has been contemplating since long to find an optimal transport solution for cities having population of 2-3 million since appropriate MRTS has not been explored anywhere in India. The model developed for Nashik was discussed on various forums and finally Govt. of India on 21.08.2019 constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Brijesh Dixit, MD/Maha-Metro for standardization of detail specifications for a Rubber-Tyred Mass Rapid Transportation System with a view to implement this across India. The

allocation of funds for Nashik Metro Neo in budget 2021- 21 is based on the acceptance of the report of the committee by the Govt of India.

Salient Features

• Two corridors are planned initially. Corridor one, Gangapur to Mumbai Naka, length 10 KM and 10 stations (Gangapur, Jalapur, Ganpat Nagar, Kale Nagar, Jehan Circle, Thatte Nagar, Shivaji Nagar, Panchavati, CBS, Mumbai Naka). Corridor two, Gangapur to Nashik Road, length 22 KM and 15 stations (DHRUV Nagar, Shramik Nagar, Mahindra, Shaneshwar Nagar, Satpur Colony, MIDC, ABB Circle, Parijat Nagar, MICO circle, CBS, Sharda Circle, Dwarka Circle, Gayatri Nagar, Samta Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Datta Mandir, Nashik Road). CBS will be an interchange station where both the corridors meet.

• There will be two feeder corridors. Feeder corridor one will run between Satpur colony – Garware - Mumbai Naka. Feeder corridor two will run between Nashik Road – Nandur Naka –Shivaji Nagar.

• The length of Electric Bus Coaches will be 25 /18 meter and carrying capacity 200/300 passengers. The buses will have rubber-tyre and draw power from the overhead electric wire having 600-750 V DC supply. The buses will take power form overhead electric wire through railway/tram like system.

• The buses will be air conditioned with automatic door closing system, level boarding, comfortable seats, passenger announcement system, and passenger information system with electronic display. The stations will have staircase, lift and escalators with passenger information display. The station entry and exit will be provided on both side of the road to avoid road crossing by passengers.

• Feeder Bus (12 m) battery-powered will run on the existing road on the 2 feeder routes i.e

(i) Mumbai Nakka via Garware to Satpur Colony (12 km) and (ii) Nashik station to Shivaji-nagar via Nandur Nakka (12km).

The feeder bus batteries will get charged while operating on the main corridors that will enable seamless travel with a wider coverage. No separate charging facility will be required.

• Metro-Neo system is a unique concept being adopted for the 1st time in this country. It is comfortable, rapid, Energy efficient, less noisy (compare to diesel buses) and environment friendly. The capacity of main corridors will be 15000 PHPDT (Peak Hour Peak Direction Traffic). The system has been designed for headway (peak hour) 2 minute i.e. a new service after every two minute.

• The total cost of the project is Rs 2100.6 crore. Govt of Maharashtra, CIDCO and NMC share (Rs 552.19 cr) and Govt of India share (Rs 307.06+80.5 cr), total govt share Rs 939.3 cr. And remaining 1161.3 will be loan component.

• The proposed rapid transit system in the Nashik Metropolitan Region (the greater Nashik Metro or Metro Neo) is expected to reduce traffic congestion as well as provide direct connectivity to Nashik city from its suburbs. The Greater Nashik Metro will connect suburbs of Nashik city like Deolali, Nashik Road, Upnagar, Nashik Airport, Sinnar, Igatpuri, Gangapur Road, Trimbakeshwar, Dindori, Bhagur, Niphad, Adgaon, Ghoti Budruk and Girnare.

The allotment of funds in the budget 2021-22 for Nashik city Metro Neo was possible due to efforts of Nashik Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra Govt, MOHUA (Govt of India), CIDCO, MIDC and Maha metro who worked jointly to make the concept of Metro Neo adopted for Nashik city.

PROJECT

GORAKHPUR METROLITE: A MODERN TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR A FAST DEVELOPING CITY

Gorakhpur: An Introduction

Gorakhpur is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Rapti river in the Purvanchal region. It is situated 270 kilometers east of the state capital Lucknow. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur district, North Eastern Railway Zone and Gorakhpur division. The city is home to the Gorakhnath Math, a Gorakhnath temple. The city also has an Indian Air Force station, since 1963. Gita Press, the world’s largest publisher of Hindu religious texts like Ramayana and Mahabharat is also located in Gorakhpur. The name ‘Gorakhpur’ comes from the Sanskrit Gorakshapuram, which means abode of Gorakhnath, a renowned ascetic who was a prominent saint of the Nath Sampradaya.

As of 2011 Indian Census, Gorakhpur had a total population of 673,446, of which 353,907 were males and 319,539 were females. Gorakhpur had 112,237 households in 2011. According to a 2020 report, 31 villages have been incorporated in the municipal corporation limits increasing the population to over 1 million. The city area has also increased from 145.5 km2 in 2011

to 226.6 km2.

The state government has also declared Gorakhpur,as a metropolis on 22 November 2021. Apart from Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation, the government has declared three nagar panchayats and eight development blocks as a metropolitan area. For this, the urban Development Department has issued a notification to the city. According to the order issued by the Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development, now in Gorakhpur Metropolitan Region, Municipal Corporation, Nagar Panchayat Pipraich, Nagar Panchayat PPganj, Nagar Panchayat Mundera Bazar, Chargawa, Khorabar, Pipraich, Sardar Nagar, Piprauli, Jungle Kaudiya, Campierganj and The entire area of Bhathat development block has been covered. After this the population of Gorakhpur metropolis will be around 25 lakhs.

Transport System in the City

Gorakhpur is connected through a rail network and Gorakhpur railway station. Until March 2021, it had world’s longest platform of 1366 meters now Hubli Junction railway station is world’s

longest platform of 1505 meters. In February 2020, 100 flowering pots with the support structures were made and installed on the hydrant pipe at platform No.2 to increase the plantation and natural cover, using local resources of the Gorakhpur coaching depot.

The station offers Class A-1 railway station facilities. On 6 October 2013, Gorakhpur has the world’s Longest Railway platform, after inauguration of the remodelled Gorakhpur Yard, with a stretch of around 1,355.40 metres. Gorakhpur is the headquarters of North Eastern Railways. An Air Force station of Indian Air Force was established in Gorakhpur in 1963 named Mahayogi Gorakhnath Airport and extended for public air transport.

Metro

The Gorakhpur Metrolite is a light rapid transit system proposed for the city of Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. The network will consist of 2 elevated lines serving 27 stations with a total length of 27.41 kilometres. The project is estimated to cost Rs. 4,672 crore. It is expected to be completed by 2024.

The Government of Uttar Pradesh appointed the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation to build a metro system in Gorakhpur in 2017. Rail India Technical and Economic Service prepared the feasibility study and the detailed project report for the project and submitted it to the corporation in March 2019. The report was approved by the state cabinet on 9 October 2020.

The Public Investment Board approved the first phase of the project on 22 November 2021, and the project is expected to be completed by 2024.

Details & Key Figure

Bazar

Nagar, Bargadwa, Shastri Nagar, Nathmalpur, Gorakhnath Mandir, Hazaripur, Dharmshala, Gorakhpur Railway Station, University, Mohaddipur, Ramgarh

Lake, AIIMS, Malviya Nagar, MMM Engineering College, Divya Nagar, Sooba Bazar Line-2 : Gulriha – Kachehri Chauraha (10.46 Km)

Type

Depot

Mugalaha

Stations (11) : Gulariha, BRD Medical College, Mugalaha, Khanjanchi Bazar, Basharatpur, Ashok Nagar, Vishnu Nagar, Asuran Chowk, Dharamshala, Gol Ghar, Kachehri Chauraha

Suburban / Commuter Rail :

Nagpur & Coimbatore broad-gauge Metro

NEW TRANSPORT OPTIONS FOR CITY OF ORANGES AND COVAI

Introduction

Nagpur is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 14th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford’s Economics report, Nagpur is projected to be the fifth fastest growing city in the world from 2019 to 2035 with an average growth of 8.41%. It has been proposed as one of the Smart Cities in Maharashtra and is one of the top ten cities in India in Smart City Project execution. In the latest rankings of 100 developing smart cities given by the Union Ministry of Urban Development, Nagpur stood first in Maharashtra state and second in India. Known as the ‘Orange City’, Nagpur has officially become the greenest, safest and most technologically developed city in the Maharashtra state. Nagpur is the seat of the annual winter session of the Maharashtra state assembly. It is a major commercial and political center of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

In addition, the city derives unique importance from being an important location for the Dalit Buddhist movement and the headquarters for the Hindu organization RSS. Nagpur is also known for the Deekshabhoomi, which is graded an A-class tourism and pilgrimage site, the largest hollow stupa among all the Buddhist stupas in the world. The regional branch of Bombay High Court is also situated within the city.

According to a survey by ABP News-Ipsos, Nagpur was identified as the best city in India topping in livability, greenery, public transport, and health care indices in 2013. The city was adjudged the 20th cleanest city in India and the top mover in the western zone as per Swachh Sarvekshan 2016. It was awarded as the

best city for innovation and best practice in Swachh Sarvekshan 2018. It was also declared as open defecation free in January 2018 under Swachh Bharat Mission. It is also one of the safest cities for women in India. The city also ranked 25th in Ease of Living index 2020 among 111 cities in India. It was ranked the 8th most competitive city in the country by the Institute for Competitiveness for the year 2017.

It is famous for Nagpur oranges and is sometimes known as the Orange City for being a major trade center of oranges cultivated in large part of the region. It is also called the Tiger Capital of India or the Tiger Gateway of India as many tiger reserves are located in and around the city and also hosts the regional office of National Tiger Conservation Authority. The city was founded in 1702 by the Gond King Bakht Buland Shah of Deogarh and later became a part of the Maratha Empire under the royal Bhonsale dynasty. The British East India Company took over Nagpur in the 19th century and made it the capital of the Central Provinces and Berar. After the first re-organisation of states, the city lost its status as the capital. Following the informal Nagpur Pact between political leaders, it was made the second capital of Maharashtra.

A Growing and emerging city needing modern transport system Nagpur is an emerging metropolis. Nagpur’s nominal GDP was estimated to be around Rs. 1,406,860 million in 2019–20, making it the largest economic center in entire central India. Nagpur district has a per-capita GDP of Rs. 270,617 as of 201920 financial year, being the highest in the central India. In 2004, it was ranked the fastest-growing city in India in terms of the number of households with an annual income of Rs. 10 million

or more. Nagpur has been the main centre of commerce in the region of Vidarbha since its early days and is an important trading location. Although, Nagpur’s economic importance gradually declined relative to Mumbai and Pune after the merging of Vidarbha into Maharashtra because of a period of neglect by the state government, the city’s economy later recovered.

The city is important for the banking sector as it hosts the regional office of Reserve Bank of India, which was opened on 10 September 1956. The Reserve Bank of India has two branches in Nagpur, one of which houses India’s entire gold assets. Sitabuldi market in central Nagpur, known as the heart of the city, is the major commercial market area. Nagpur is home to icecream manufacturer Dinshaws, Indian dry food manufacturer Haldiram’s, Indian ready-to-cook food manufacturer Actchawa, spice manufacturer Suruchi International, Ayurvedic products company Vicco and Baidyanath and Explosives & Ammunition company Solar Industries.

For centuries, Nagpur has been famous for its orange gardens in the country, hence the name ‘Orange City’. Orange cultivation has been expanding and it is the biggest marketplace for oranges in the country. The Maharashtra Agro Industrial Development Corporation has its multi fruit processing division called Nagpur Orange Grower’s Association (NOGA) which has an installed capacity of 4,950 MT of fruits per annum. Orange is also exported to various regions in the country as well to other countries. Nagpur is also famous for the cotton and silk which is woven by its large Koshti population of handloom weavers which are around 5,000.

Nagpur and the Vidarbha region have a very prominent power sector as compared to the rest of Maharashtra. Koradi Thermal Power Station and Khaparkheda Thermal Power Station are two major thermal power stations located near Nagpur and operated by MSPGCL. NTPC has a super thermal power plant called Mauda Super Thermal Power Station in Mauda around 40 km from Nagpur and Vidarbha Industries Power Limited (a subsidiary of Reliance Power) is situated at Butibori.

The Multi-modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) is an ongoing project for the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur. The government of Maharashtra formed a special purpose entity, Maharashtra Airport Development Company, for the development of MIHAN.

Nagpur Metro

The Nagpur Metro project was announced by the state government of Maharashtra with the expenses of INR 4,400 Cr and 3,800 Cr for its first phase which consists of two corridors –north–south corridor and east–west corridor of 39.4 km.

The site inspection began in March 2012 with initiatives from Nagpur Improvement Trust. The project is executed by a SPV called Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (erstwhile Nagpur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.). In July 2015, the project was approved by the government of Maharashtra.Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated operations on Nagpur Metro on 7 March 2019 via video conferencing along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Cabinet Minister Nitin Gadkari. On 15th August 2022, Nagpur Metro made the record for single-day ridership of 90,758 passengers.

Nagpur Broad-Gauge Metro

A report was prepared by Urban Mass Transit Company. Four routes of approximately 270 km were proposed at the cost of Rs. 418 crore. Three coach trains will run on Indian Railways’ broad gauge tracks at a maximum operating speed of 160 km/h. The passenger capacity of each train is 885. The final detailed project report was submitted in August 2019. The expected ridership of the Metro in 2021 on the various routes is: Wardha 5,669, Narkhed 2,616, Ramtek 3,929 and Bhandara Road 2,556. The total ridership is 14,700. The maximum design speed will be 200 kilometre per hour and the operating speed will be 160 km/hr.

The Government of Maharashtra had cleared the proposal for broad gauge metro in March 2019. Railway board, Ministry of Railways under Government of India has approved the DPR in November 2019. Nagpur broad-gauge Metro is a commuter rail project planned for the city of Nagpur and extending up to adjacent areas of Wardha, Yavatmal, Narkhed, Ramtek, Bhandara, Amravati, Wadsa and Chhindwara (also Nagbhid in the near future) in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. This project will be executed by Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited. The project is estimated to cost INR 418 Cr and consists of four routes, each originating from Nagpur and terminating at Narkhed, Ramtek, Wardha and Bhandara.

Project Details & Routes

The proposed routes of Nagpur Commuter Rail Project is as under”

Nagpur - Wardha – Yavatmal

Nagpur - Wardha – Amravati

Nagpur - Wardha – Chandrapur

Nagpur – Bhandara

Nagpur – Ramtek

• Nagpur - Narkhed

Interchanges will be put in place with phase 1 of Nagpur Metro at Khapri, Nagpur Railway Station and Ajni. The minimum fare for distances up to 5 km will be Rs. 20 while that above 70 km will be Rs. 90. Monthly pass tickets will range from Rs. 400 to Rs 1,800.

Coimbatore Broad Gauge Metro

Coimbatore Broad Gauge Metro Railway Cum Coimbatore Suburban Railway or Kovai Metro Cum Suburban Railway is a Broad Gauge Metro Cum Suburban railway planned for Coimbatore city. The circular railway line will help run through Coimbatore Junction, Podanur, Vellalore, Irugur, Singanallur, Pilamedu and Coimbatore North. This will certainly help decongest the city roads since this circular line passes through the main parts of Coimbatore city and ends within the coimbatore city limits, so this circular line is an urban line. Restoration of old Main Line (Which was Broad Gauge Vellore Station) Nanjundapuram Railway link line lengths 1 km will help plan circular urban electric train track. A senior official with the Salem division says, ‘if the revival of an old line can bring about so many benefits, it can be considered’. However, Implementation of this project gets delayed due to the Proposed Coimbatore Metro.

Project Details : Routes

These are the 5 routes.

• Coimbatore Jn – Mettupalayam

• Coimbatore Jn. – Pollachi Jn.

• Coimbatore Jn – Tiruppur

• Coimbatore Jn – Palakkad Jn

• Coimbatore Jn – Irugur Jn – Podanur In – Coimbatore Jn (Proposed for Both Metro and Mainline Routes) (circular line as well as urban line).

Local passenger trains from Coimbatore Junction is operating on all the above mentioned sub urban routes except the Coimbatore Jn – Irugur Jn – Coimbatore Jn (circular line as well as urban line).

Suburban Stations

The other stations serving Coimbatore include Coimbatore North Junction (CBF), Podanur Junction (PTJ), Irugur Junction (IGU), Madukkarai (MDKI), Pilamedu (PLMD), Singanallur (SHI), Sulur Road railway station (SUU), Periyanaickenpalayam railway station (PKU) and Somanur (SNO). Other stations like Chettipalayam, Urumandampalayam, Veerapandi and Pudupalayam are defunct. The people have asked to reopen the stations. The 1 km long Nanjundapuram Railway link line became completely defunct and was dismantled soon after the Coimbatore North – Irugur line was put to use.

Restoration of this Nanjundapuram Railway link line will help plan circular suburban electric train track connecting major train stations in the outskirts of Coimbatore like Mettupalayam, Irugur, Podanur, Pollachi etc to ease growing peripheral traffic. Reopening this defunct Nanjundapuram Railway line & Station can benefit residents from Nanjundapuram, Ramanathapuram, Redfields, Puliakulam, Sowripalayam, Udayampalayam,

Singanallur, Varadarajapuram, Uppilipalayam and Ondipudur areas of Coimbatore for train connections to onward destinations. Irugur via Nanjundapuram: This bye-pass connection from Irugur – Podanur line to Coimbatore bypassing Podanur had been laid long back at a time when Coimbatore was connected only from Podanur as a branch from Irugur–Podanur–Shoranur line. It was done to facilitate trains from Erode side to directly go to Coimbatore. However, this connection became superfluous when Coimbatore was directly connected from Irugur side via Pilamedu and Coimbatore North in 1953, and accordingly, this link line was removed at that time. Since the doubling work between Irugur–Coimbatore section is in progress, these double lines will be utilised for suburban traffic if required This is the poignant backdrop of Nanjundapuram Railway Station now defunct.

Coimbatore

Connecting Lines

Coimbatore,

Mettupalayam line, Pollachi line, Palakkad line, Tiruppur line, Kovai circular line.

Map

SUBURBAN RAIL

Suburban Rail: Bengaluru & Ahmedabad A TRANSPORT SYSTEM TO SUPPORT SEAMLESS TRANSFER BETWEEN TRAVEL MODES

Abstract

Urban rail transit in India plays an important role in intracity transportation in the major cities which are highly populated. It consists of rapid transit, suburban rail, monorail and tram systems. According to a report published in 2021, a total of 2.63 billion people travelled annually in metro systems across India’s fifteen major cities, placing the country as one of the busiest urban rapid transit hub in the world in terms of ridership. The combined length of 810 kilometres of metro systems in India makes it the fourth longest in the world with in operation. Since 2014, a total of about 548 kms of metro rail network has been built/operationalized in India.

The Ministry of Urban Development’s Urban Transport wing is the nodal division for coordination, appraisal and approval of Urban Transport matters including Metro Rail Projects at the central level. All the interventions in the urban transport by the Ministry of Urban Development are carried out as per the provisions of National Urban Transport Policy, 2006.

Indian cities have various types of urban transit systems operational, under construction and planned. These systems are being implemented based on the population of a city, financial feasibility and demand.

Suburban Railway Very High Medium Medium

Medium-capac ity rail Medium Medium High

Metro Lite Medium Medium High

High Regional tran sit system High High Low

Medium Monorail Medium Medium High Yes

High Tram Low Slow High No Yes Low Bus Rapid Transit Low Medium High Yes

Low Metro Neo Low Medium High Yes

Medium Water Metro Low Slow Medium

Low

• Rapid Transit : The rapid transit or popularly known as metro in India, is an urban high-capacity rail system, commonly operated in metropolitan cities. These systems are segregated from Indian Railways and have their right-of-way. Example: Delhi Metro, Chennai MRTS

• Suburban Railway : Suburban rail or popularly known as local train system in India, is an urban rail transit system where the suburbs are connected to the city’s centre. These systems are linked to and operated by Indian Railways. Example: Mumbai Suburban Railway

• Medium-Capacity Rail : It is a rapid transit (metro) system which has a capacity higher than light rail but lower than rapid transit system to serve a medium demand. It is built considering the future rise in demand, so that it can be converted into a

Urban transit type Capacity Speed Frequency of stations / stops Right of way Rail based Cost to build and

RAIL

regular metro. Example: Rapid Metro Gurgaon

• Light Rail : Light rail is used in cities that have low demand. It is a combination of rapid transit and tram systems. It has a higher capacity and speed compared to tram services and has dedicated tracks that are mostly fenced. Example: Srinagar Metro

• Monorail : This system has trains running on a single rail/beam. It has found its application in medium capacity transport, but due to low efficiency and high costs, it has been sidelined in India. Example: Mumbai Monorail

• Regional Transit System : This system is operated either between two similarly-sized cities, which are close to each other or between an urban city and smaller cities lying nearby.

Example: Delhi–Meerut RRTS

• Tram : These systems are one of the oldest modes of urban transport in India. They are low capacity, slow-moving trains which run on tracks that are embedded in the urban streets.

Example: Kolkata Tram

Non-rail based Urban Transit

• Bus Rapid Transit : The Bus Rapid Transit systems in India use conventional buses or high capacity buses and have their own right-of-way, separated from the rest of the traffic. Example: Bhopal Bus Rapid Transit System

• Metro Neo : These are the Bus Rapid Transit systems that use overhead wires with power supply similar to a trolleybus but with a higher capacity and which have their right-of-way.

Example: Greater Nashik Metro

• Water Metro : A water-based urban transit system usually implemented in cities which are situated on rivers. These systems are basically integrated ferry systems. Example: Kochi Water Metro

Rapid Transit

There are currently 15 operational rapid transit (popularly known as ‘metro’) systems in fifteen cities across India. With Delhi Metro being the largest metro system which connects to few other nearby cities in the National Capital Region. As of October 2022, India has 792.27 kilometres of operational metro lines and

631 stations across 15 systems. A further 568.15 km of lines are under construction.

Apart from the Kolkata metro (which has its own zone under Indian Railways), these rapid transit metro lines are not operated by Indian Railways, but a separate set of local authorities. In addition to their metro systems, the cities of Chennai and Hyderabad have mass transit systems operated by the Indian Railways, known as the Chennai MRTS and the Hyderabad MMTS, respectively. The first rapid transit system in India is the Kolkata Metro, which started operations in 1984. The Delhi Metro has the largest network in the entire country.

Implementation

In 2006, the National Urban Transport Policy had proposed the construction of a metro rail system in every city with a population of at least 20 lakh (2 million) people. Later on 11 August 2014, Union Government had announced that it would provide financial assistance for the implementation of a metro rail system to all Indian cities having a population of more than 1 million. In May 2015, the Union Government approved the Union Urban Development Ministry’s proposal to implement metro rail systems in 50 cities, with the majority of the planned projects were to be implemented through special purpose vehicles, which will be established as 50:50 joint ventures between the Union and respective State Government. The Union Government would invest an estimated Rs. 5 lakh crore.

In a new draft policy unveiled in March 2017, the Central Government stated that it wanted state governments to consider metro rail as the ‘last option’ and implement it only after considering all other possible mass rapid transit systems. The decision was taken due to the high cost of constructing metro rail systems. In August 2017, the Union Government announced that it would not provide financial assistance to the new metro rail project unless some sort of private partnership is involved.

Track gauge

Unlike Broad gauge which form majority of the railway tracks in the sub-continent, metro rail lines in India are composed of mainly standard gauge. Projects like the Kolkata Metro and Delhi Metro used broad gauge for their earliest lines, but to procure modern foreign rakes and to adopt international standard, India went ahead with standard gauge for all the following lines.

Suburban Rail

Suburban rail plays a major role in the public transport system of many major Indian cities. These services are operated by Indian Railways. Suburban rail is a rail service between a central business district and the suburbs, a conurbation or other locations that draw large numbers of people daily. The trains are called suburban trains. These trains are also referred to as ‘local trains’ or ‘locals’. The suburban rail systems in Hyderabad, Pune, Lucknow–Kanpur and Bengaluru do not have dedicated suburban tracks but share tracks with long-distance trains. The suburban rail system of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have both dedicated tracks and tracks shared with long-distance trains.

The first suburban rail system in India is Mumbai Suburban

Railway which started operations in 1853. The Kolkata Suburban Railway has the largest network in the entire country. The Chennai Suburban Railway started its operations in 1931.

Suburban trains that handle commuter traffic are all electric multiple units (EMUs). They usually have nine or twelve coaches, sometimes even fifteen to handle rush hour traffic. One unit of an EMU train consists of one power car and two general coaches. Thus a nine coach EMU is made up of three units having one power car at each end and one at the middle. The rakes in the suburban rails run on 25 kV AC. Ridership on India’s suburban railways has risen from 1.2 million in 1970–71 to 4.4 million in 2012–13. The suburban railways of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai occupy no more than 7.1% of the Indian Railways 20819.3-km network, but account for 53.2% of all railway passengers. In some cities of India, the opening of rapid transit systems has led to a decline in the use of the suburban rail system.

System State / Union Territory Lines Stations Opened

Chennai Mass

Rapid Transit System Tamil Nadu 2 18 01 Nov 1995

Chennai Subur ban Railway Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh 8 300+ 1931

Delhi Suburban Railway Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Hary ana 1 46 1-Oct-75

Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport Sys tem Telangana 3 28 9-Aug-03

Kolkata Subur ban Railway West Bengal 24 458 15 Aug 1854

Mumbai Subur ban Railway Maharashtra 7 150 16 Apr 1853

Pune Suburban Railway Maharashtra 2 17 11-Mar-78

Bengaluru Commuter Rail Karnataka 4 TBD Under Con struction

Ahmedabad Suburban Rail way Gujarat 2 41 Proposed

Nagpur broadgauge Metro Maharashtra 4 TBD Proposed

Coimbatore Suburban Rail way Tamil Nadu 5 TBD Proposed

Total 8 47 1017 3,319.84 km

(Figures Till Sep, 2021)

Bengaluru Commuter Rail

A Commuter rail service existed in Bengaluru as early as in 1963 for HAL employees to commute from KSR Bengaluru to Vimanapura Railway station. In 1983 a formal Commuter Rail system for Bangalore had first been proposed by a team from Southern Railway under then Railway Minister C. K. Jaffer Sharief and Member of Parliament representing Bangalore. Their recommendation had been to invest in 3 commuter rail

SUBURBAN RAIL

lines and a 58-km ring railway. The package was estimated to cost Rs. 6,500 million in 1983 terms (US$628.6 million) spread over a 25-year period.

Again in 1993 C. K. Jaffer Sharief Minister of Railway’s, India. Influenced the State of Karnataka to established another committee look into mass rapid transit. This committee recommended essentially the same put forward by Southern Railway in 1983 and the same circular railway. Both in 1983 and 1993 the proposal was rejected by then Prime Minister of India. In 2007, RITES (Rail Indian Technical and Economic Services) was commissioned by the Government of Karnataka to conduct a CTTP (Comprehensive Traffic & Transportation Plan) for the city of Bengaluru. Their report called for 10 Commuter Rail routes totaling 204.0 km. As per the report, Commuter Rail (along existing rail routes) would cost much lesser than mass rapid transit systems.

In July 2010, a proposal was made by Praja Bangalore in a ‘Call To Action’ report. This plan was supported & presented at the center for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CisTup), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. The proposal had suggested a 376 km network around three hubs (Yesvantpur Junction, Benniganahalli & Yelahanka Junction) with 42 new stations. A key recommendation was to use the congested KSR Bengaluru only as a pass-through station.

In November 2011, RITES conducted a feasibility study exclusively for commuter rail services in Bengaluru and submitted their final report to the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) in November 2012. The 179-page report studied all existing routes totalling 440.8 km of the rail network in & around the city & development of Commuter Rail services over three phases. The state government approved the commuter rail system on 5 July 2013. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah approved the system in the 2013-14 state budget that he presented on 9 July 2013. The budget proposed the setting up of the Bengaluru Suburban Rail Corporation Limited, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to implement the project estimated to cost Rs. 87.59 billion.

In the 2016-17 Railway budget, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced a partnership with Karnataka government for a Rs. 9000-crore Commuter Rail network for Bengaluru, but did not allocate any funds. On 3 February 2016, the state government proposed a modified version of the original RITES plan. This looked to kick-start the project with a Rs. 1,000-crore investment to connect Mandya with Kengeri, Whitefield with Baiyappanahalli and Tumakuru with Yeshwanthpura Junction. The state government released 100 crore towards this. The state appointed RITES again to study the feasibility of the project, and the latter’s survey deemed the project as feasible. However, Railways stated that the proposed Phase Two of the project (linking Tumakuru and Yeshwanthpura Junction) was not feasible.

In November 2018, RITES prepared a revised plan for a 161 km network that was again amended in August 2019 to reduce costs. Out of 82 stations, 29 stations were deleted, route length reduced to 148 km & costs lowered to Rs. 16,000 crores. This was finally accepted by Government of India.

Project

Bengaluru Commuter Rail is a under construction suburban rail network for the city of Bangalore. A Commuter Rail system for the city was first proposed in 1983. Since then, several different route proposals were made but no Commuter Rail project took shape. It was finally approved in the 2019 Railway Budget. On 1 February 2020, finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned in her budget that the project would be implemented at cost of Rs 18,600 crores. The central government would provide 20% of the equity and facilitate external assistance up to 60 percent of the project cost. It will be first of its kind and unique in India as it will have metro like facilities and rolling stock. It has slowest design speed among all the new commuter rail projects currently being implemented in India as Nagpur broad-gauge Metro and National Capital Region Transport Corporation are building rail tracks for design speed of 200 km/h with operating speed of 160 km/h.

Commuter rail along with Hyperloop, High speed Airport Train, Intercity trains, Metro rail, Metro Neo, Metrolite will provide rail based public transport to the Bengaluru’ s general public.

Route Proposals

Current Status

Though approved in principle by Government of India, budget allocations have been paltry over the last few years as only token amounts have been allocated. On 7 October 2020, the project was approved by Prime Minister’s Office and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (headed by the Prime Minister). The State Government commenced providing budgetary support for the Commuter Rail project & 500 crores was allocated in the 2020-21 budget. Meanwhile, K-RIDE has kick-started the Suburban project by calling tenders for Land Survey, hiring staff etc.

Two priority lines will be taken up first as per Government of Karnataka’s advise. These are Mallige Line and Kanaka Line. The Commuter rail routes are named after local flowers. As of 2022, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the start of construction of the project on 20th June this year.

Routes

Route-1: Sampige Line

Route-2: Mallige Line

Route-3: Parijaata Line

Route-4: Kanaka Line

Depots

Two depots have been planned. Jnanabharathi depot would be spread over 56.9 acres and Devanahalli depot would be on 61.2 acres. However, these are not on the priority routes 2 and 4. Hence, feasibility for a depot at Huskuru along Kanaka Line is being explored besides other options.

Features

DPR for the project has included many rare and unique features in System.

• Many Stations will act as Integrated commercial hubs.

• Many Stations will be built as Intermodal Integration hubs were people can switch easily with other modes of transport like Metro.

• Stations will have Automated fare collection system and Platform screen doors.

• DPR suggests that Metro Train sets (EMU) – RS 13 series, which is used in Delhi Metro and manufactured at M/s BEML, Bengaluru, is the most suitable for Bengaluru Commuter Rail system.

Current MEMU and DEMU operation by Indian Railways

(i) Indian Railway’s South Western Railway zone operates several MEMU and DEMU train services from Bengaluru to Hosur, Dharmapuri, Jolarpettai, Tumakuru, Marikuppam near Kolar Gold Fields, Bangarapete, Hindupur, Mysuru, Kolar, Kuppam and Hassan.

(ii) Hosur, Dharmapuri and Jolarpettai is across the state border in Tamil Nadu. Hindupur and Kuppam is across state border in Andhra Pradesh, while Tumakuru, Bangarapete, Mysuru,

Marikuppam, Kolar and Hassan are in Karnataka.

(iii) Service to and from Hassan, Hindupur, Hosur, Dharmapuri and Tumakuru are operated from Yesvantpur Junction, while services to Mysuru, Kolar, Marikuppam, Kuppam, Bangarapete and Jolarpettai are from KSR Bengaluru and Bengaluru Contonment.

Integrated intermodal and public transport experience with last mile connectivity

Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Bengaluru provides a roadmap for integrated public transport experience. Bengaluru Suburban Rail stations will be integrated with other modes of transport for seamless transfer between travel modes - as in European cities. Public Bus Service, Metro trains, Inter-city bus, Inter-city trains, Metrolite, Metro Neo, Hyperloop, BRTS, Peripheral Ring Road, Bus priority corridors, Airport metro, Airport Bus service, High speed Airport Train, will be integrated with the Suburban train network.

Public Bicycle Sharing (PBS) and the Shared Micro-Mobility System initiatives have been launched to provide last mile connectivity to suburban rail stations. K-RIDE plans to evolve all 57 stations to integrated commercial hubs (smart station hubs) where people can work, park, shop, eat and trade. Approaches to suburban train stations will be provided from all directions. Suburban train station plan will not only focus on the development of modern station itself, but also on traffic circulation and road improvement plan, easy switch to other public transport, widening of approach roads, ramp based multi-level access as in the New Delhi Railway station redevelopment model.

Ahmedabad Suburban Railway

The suburban railway was proposed to let people live in satellite towns and commute easily making less pressure on urban infrastructure. The project was conceptualised by the Delhi Metro Board around 2003. The Detailed Project Review was submitted to the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in October 2005. GIDB sent it to RITES for verification. The project had received approval in 2009 but was not implemented. During Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit 2015, MOU was signed with Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd for a suburban railway system in Ahmedabad. Later it was announced in 2016 Union Rail Budget.

Project : Routes & Corridor

Ahmedabad Suburban Railway is a planned regional rail system in the city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Corridor

The project will use the existing Right of Way of Indian Railways, passing through Ahmedabad by upgrading and integrating existing facilities. Two corridors are planned for Ahmedabad Suburban Railway.

• Corridor 1 : Barejadi-Ahmedabad Junction-Kalol (43.49 km) with stops at Geratpur, Vatva, Maninagar, Sabarmati,

Chandkheda, Khodiyar, and Saij Sertha Road

Corridor 2 : Ahmedabad Junction-Naroda (9.47 km) with stops at Asarva, Ahmedabad Airport, Saijpur and Sardargram

Suburban Railway Overview

Native Name

A light Metro system for ancient city of Calicut Kozhikode Metro

India’sAbstractdevelopment and operations of existing metro rail systems provide valuable insights towards improving upcoming systems’ planning and investments. The Government of India (GoI) continued financial support over the past two decades, and the Metro Rail Policy formulated in 20171, led to the development of a wide range of rail-based mass transport systems across the country.

Today, India has metro rail, suburban rail and monorail. Amongst these, metro rail systems witnessed the fastest growth, from network length of 222km in three cities in 2011 to 697 Km in 13 cities by 2021. Approved additional metro rail network of 1,032km will expand the reach of metro systems up to 27 cities. In addition, lighter urban rail systems such as Metrolite and Metro Neo are being conceptualised and developed by many small- and medium-sized cities. The approved metro rail projects have a projected expenditure of INR 3 trillion over the next five years, including equity investments by central and state governments and financing from other developmental and commercial financing entities.

Urban Rail Transit in India

Urban rail transit in India plays an important role in intracity transportation in the major cities which are highly populated. It consists of rapid transit, suburban rail, monorail and tram systems. According to a report published in 2021, a total of 2,636 million people travel annually in metro systems across India’s thirteen major cities, placing the country as one of the busiest urban rapid transit hub in the world in terms of ridership. The combined length of 731.25 kilometres of metro systems in India makes it the fifth longest in the world with in operation. The Ministry of Urban Development’s Urban Transport wing is the nodal division for coordination, appraisal and approval of Urban Transport matters including Metro Rail Projects at the central level. All the interventions in the urban transport by the Ministry of Urban Development are carried out as per the provisions of National Urban Transport Policy, 2006.

Light Rail Transit

Light rail transit (LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit characterized by a combination of tram and metro features. While its rolling stock is more similar to a traditional tram, it operates at a higher capacity and speed, and often on an exclusive right-of-way. In many cities, light rail transit systems more closely resemble, and are therefore indistinguishable from, traditional underground or at-grade subways and heavyrail metros. There is no standard definition, but in the United States (where the terminology was devised in the 1970s from the engineering term light railway), light rail operates primarily

along exclusive rights-of-way and uses either individual tramcars or multiple units coupled to form a train that is lower capacity and lower speed than a long heavy-rail passenger train or metro system. A few light rail networks tend to have characteristics closer to rapid transit or even commuter rail; some of these heavier rapid transit-like systems are referred to as light metros. Other light rail networks are tram-like and partially operate on streets.

The city of spices : Kozhikode

Kozhikode, also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second largest metropolitan area in Kerala and the 19th largest in India. Kozhikode is classified as a Tier II city by the Government of India. It is the largest city in the region known as Malabar and was the capital of the British-era Malabar district. In antiquity and the medieval period, Kozhikode was dubbed the City of Spices for its role as the major trading point for Indian spices. It was the capital of an independent kingdom ruled by the Samoothiris (Zamorins). The port at Kozhikode acted as the gateway to medieval South Indian coast for the Chinese, the Arabs, the Portuguese, the Dutch and finally the British. According to data compiled by economics research firm Indicus Analytics in 2009 on residences, earnings and investments, Kozhikode was ranked the second best city in India to live in.

Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation Ltd.

Kerala State Metro Rail Corporation Limited, abbreviated to KSMRCL, is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed to implement light metro projects in Kerala. Kerala has light metro systems planned for the cities of Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. The SPV is fully owned by the State Government and the Chief Minister is the Chairman of the company. The head office of

KMRCL is at Thiruvananthapuram, with branches at Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. Earlier it was Kerala Monorail Corporation Ltd. Since monorail was not financially viable, DMRC proposed light metro. The chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, is the chairman of the board and Public Works Minister P. A. Mohammed Riyas is vice chairman. The other board members are Ministers KN Balagopal, Antony Raju, P Rajeev, K Rajan as well as officials of Public Works and Transport departments.

Metro

Kozhikode Metro is a proposed Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system for the city of Kozhikode (Calicut), in India. In 2010, the State government explored the possibility of implementing a metro rail project for Kozhikode city and its suburbs. The proposal was to have a corridor connecting the meenchanda to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital through the heart of the city. An inception report was submitted by a Bangalore-based consultant, Wilber Smith, on the detailed feasibility study on the prospect of implementing the Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) and Light Rail Transit System (LRTS) in the city. However, the project has been scrapped to be replaced by Kozhikode Monorail project.

The State Cabinet then decided to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to implement monorail projects in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram, and administrative sanction was given in October 2012. The state government issued orders entrusting the Thiruvananthapuram Monorail project to the KMCL on 26 November 2012. The government had handed over the Kozhikode Monorail project to the KMCL prior to that. On 12 June 2013, the State Cabinet gave clearance for an agreement to be signed between KMCL and DMRC, that would make the latter the general consultant for the monorail projects in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram. The DMRC shall receive a consultancy fee of 3.25% of the Rs. 55.81 billion (Rs. 35.90 billion for Thiruvananthapuram and Rs. 19.91 billion for Kozhikode). The agreement was signed on 19 June 2013. However, due to cost overrun and the cold response from the bidders the project was put on hold. Bombardier Transportation was the only bidder for the project. The project was later scrapped and Light metro was proposed.

Project Development

The Union Urban Development Ministry decided to consider the proposal for a Metro in Kozhikode after the success of the Delhi Metro and signed up for drawing the detailed project report (DPR) of the Rs.27.71 billion Kozhikode metro transport project with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation as a feasibility study for the introduction of suburban services in Kozhikode city. The Ministry decided to bear 50% of the cost of the preparation of the DPR for the city that comes under the population cutoff bracket. The preliminary feasibility study had been carried out by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) in association with the Kerala Road Fund Board in December 2008. Based on this feasibility report, the Board entrusted Wilber Smith to conduct the study in June 2009. Already, the NATPAC has submitted a metro rail project covering a total distance of 32.6 km from Karipur to the Calicut Medical College. The cost of the project was estimated at Rs. 27.71 billion and was expected be completed within five years.

The monorail project which replaced the metro rail project was estimated to cost Rs 1,991 crore has received a bid from the lone bidder Bombardier consortium, and was almost double of the estimate. The project was scrapped and the Light Metro has been approved.

Details

The Kozhikode urban Light Rail Transit (LRT) system or Light Metro with 01 line and 14 stations proposed to be built in the city of Kozhikode in Kerala. Kozhikode Metro’s 13.3 km Phase 1 project will be executed by Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation Limited (KRTL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the Government of Kerala. In January 2016, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was appointed as the interim consultant, but quit the project in 2018 due to slow progress.

In 2017, the project was put on hold due to its high cost and low ridership projections which were not in line with the Government of India’s new Metro Rail Policy. A revised DPR prepared by the DMRC was approved by KRTL’s board in October 2020 and by Kerala’s state government in February 2021.

Key Figures

: Rs. 2,773

Route

Meenchanda

Medical College

Number

Station Names : Meenchanda, Vattakkinar, Panniyankara, Kallayi, Pushpa, Kozhikode Railway Station, Palayam, Mananchira, KSRTC, New Bus Stand, Kottuli, Thondayad, Chevayur and Medical College

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) Metro

Light Metro for the Evergreen City of India

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) : Brief Introduction

Thiruvananthapuram, also known by its former name Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration population is around 1.68 million. Located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland, Thiruvananthapuram is a major information technology hub in Kerala and contributes 55% of the state’s software exports as of 2016. Referred to by Mahatma Gandhi as the ‘Evergreen city of India’, the city is characterised by its undulating terrain of low coastal hills.

The present regions that constitute Thiruvananthapuram were ruled by the Ays who were feudatories of the Chera dynasty. In the 12th century, it was conquered by the Kingdom of Venad. In the 18th century, the king Marthanda Varma expanded the territory, founded the princely state of Travancore, and made Thiruvananthapuram its capital. Travancore became the most

dominant state in Kerala by defeating the powerful Zamorin of Kozhikode in the battle of Purakkad in 1755. Following India’s independence in 1947, Thiruvananthapuram became the capital of Travancore-Cochin state and remained so until the new Indian state of Kerala was formed in 1956.

Thiruvananthapuram is a notable academic and research hub and home to the University of Kerala, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, the regional headquarters of Indira Gandhi National Open University, and many other schools and colleges. Thiruvananthapuram is also home to research centers such as the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Indian Space Research Organisation’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, National Centre for Earth Science Studies and a campus of the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research. The city is home to media institutions like Toonz India Ltd and Tata Elxsi Ltd, and is also home to Chitranjali Film Studio, one of the first film studios in Malayalam Cinema, and

Kinfra Film and Video Park at Kazhakoottom, which is India’s first Infotainment industrial park.

Being India’s largest city in the deep south, it is strategically prominent and hosts the Southern Air Command headquarters of the Indian Air Force, the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station and the upcoming Vizhinjam International Seaport. Thiruvananthapuram is a major tourist centre, known for the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, the beaches of Kovalam and Varkala, the backwaters of Poovar and Anchuthengu and its Western Ghats tracts of Ponmudi and the Agastya Mala. In 2012, Thiruvananthapuram was named the best Kerala city to live in, by a field survey conducted by The Times of India . In 2013, the city was ranked the fifteenth best city to live in India, in a survey conducted by India Today . Thiruvananthapuram was ranked the best Indian city for two consecutive years, 2015 and 2016, according to the Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS) conducted by the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy. The city was also selected as the best governed city in India in a survey conducted by Janaagraha Centre for citizenship and democracy in 2017.

Tourism

Thiruvananthapuram is a major tourist hub in India. Kovalam and Varkala are popular beach towns near the city. Other important beaches include Poovar, Shankumugham Beach, Azhimala Beach, Vizhinjam Beach and Veli Beach. The Padmanabhaswamy Temple located at the heart of the city is known as the richest place of worship in the world. Other places of interest include Agasthyamala rain forests, Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kallar, Braemore, Ponmudi hills, Poovar, Anchuthengu backwaters, Varkala Cliffs and Kappil-Edava lakes.

The city is also known for its unique style of architecture involving Kerala Architecture with British and Dravidian influences. Napier museum, Thiruvanathapuram Zoo, Padmanabha Swamy temple, Kuthira Malika palace, Kilimanoor palace and The Thiruvananthapuram Golf Club heritage building are examples of this. The main museums include Kerala Science and Technology Museum (with its attached Priyadarsini Planetarium), Napier Museum, Kerala Soil Museum and Koyikkal Palace Museum. Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve is listed in UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

Need for a modern transport System for an ancient and important city

Thiruvananthapuram’s economy comprises Information Technology, education, plantations, aerospace, commerce and tourism. Thiruvananthapuram district contributes 10.31%, of the state’s GDP. With an economic growth rate of 13.83%, Thiruvananthapuram is the fastest-growing district in Kerala. Thiruvananthapuram was listed as one of the top ten cities in India on Vibrancy and Consumption Index by a study conducted by global financial services firm Morgan Stanley. State- and central-government employees make up a large percentage of the city’s workforce. Thiruvananthapuram is a major aerospace research centre in India. The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, the most significant and leading centre of ISRO and several space-related, state-owned ISRO centres such as Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, Liquid Propulsion

Systems Centre, and ISRO Inertial Systems Unit are based in Thiruvananthapuram. The BrahMos Aerospace Trivandrum Limited is one of the leading missile integration and defence production units in India. Other enterprises include Travancore Titanium Products, Kerala Automobiles Limited, MILMA, English Indian Clays, Keltron, Trivandrum Rubber Works and HLL Lifecare Limited.

Thiruvananthapuram is a major IT and ITES hub in India. The city contributes around 55% of Kerala’s total software exports. Thiruvananthapuram houses major multinational Technology companies like Oracle Corporation, Nissan, Allianz Technology, Envestnet, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Toonz Animation India, UST Global, Ernst & Young, Flytxt, Navigant, Tata Elxsi, McKinsey & Company, RR Donnelly and Quest Global. Technopark is the largest information-technology park in India in terms of built-up area. It is the largest employment base campus in Kerala with 52,000 IT/ITES professionals and about 400 companies. Other IT, media and industrial campuses include Kinfra Film and Video Park, Kinfra Apparel Park, B-HUB and Chithranjali Film Complex. Several new IT, biotechnology and industrial campuses like Technocity and Bio 360 Life sciences park are under construction.

Tourism is a significant economic sector. The presence of natural attractions like beaches, backwaters, hills, and plantations and attractions like heritage, history, Ayurveda, medical tourism and knowledge centres attract many tourists. The city experienced a surge of investment in the real estate, infrastructure and retail sectors in 2016–17. Port-related activity is low mainly due to the underdevelopment of ports. Vizhinjam International Seaport is a transhipment port under construction. Vizhinjam port’s location is close to the international shipping routes and, it is just 10–12 nautical miles from the busy Persian Gulf-Malacca shipping lane. The port also has a natural depth of 18 to 20 metres which can accommodate huge container ships. The berths at Vizhinjam port are designed to cater to vessels of up to 24,000 TEU.

Mass Rapid Transit System

Thiruvananthapuram’s first attempt to build a rapid transit system for the city failed, when its proposal to build a metro rail system was rejected by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in the 2000s. The Government of Kerala, then entrusted the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), an autonomous research body under the State Government, to conduct the feasibility study of the proposal to build a monorail system in Thiruvananthapuram. The feasibility study was conducted by a core team comprising five scientists of NATPAC and various survey teams. Topographic studies, identification of stations and surveys were the main components of the study.

The state government had initially asked the state transport department to prepare a detailed project report (DPR). However, the DMRC was later entrusted with the task. DMRC principal advisor E. Sreedharan submitted the DPR to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on 11 December 2012. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) was created in October 2012. The Thiruvananthapuram Monorail project was assigned to the KMCL on 26 November 2012. The government had handed over

project to the KMCL prior to that. On 12 June 2013, the state cabinet gave clearance for an agreement to be signed between KMCL and DMRC. The DMRC will receive 3.25% of the Rs. 55.81 billion (Rs. 35.90 billion for Thiruvananthapuram and Rs. 19.91 billion for Kozhikode) in general consultant fees. The agreement was signed on 19 June 2013.

Global tenders were floated for the Thiruvananthapuram Monorail. The deadline for technical bids was extended from 1 October 2013 to 15 October. However, a consortium led by Bombardier Transportation was the only firm that expressed an interest before the deadline. Pre-bid queries had also been made by Japanese firm Hitachi, Malaysian firm Scomi, and firms from the United Kingdom, South Korea, and China. The tender for the proposed project only received one bid, so a second tender had to be issued. The deadline for bids was extended again to 15 April. Bombardier Transportation, Hitachi, Afcons, Scomi, and Larsen and Toubro expressed interest in the second round of tender submissions. A pre-bid meeting was held in New Delhi on 20 February 2014. Bidding on the Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram projects was delayed by the model code of conduct coming into effect prior to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

On 28 August 2014, the State Government decided to use Metro, instead of Monorail, in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, mainly due to cost overruns. Though slightly costlier, Metro has several advantages, such as easy raising of capacity, DMRC’s expertise in the field and more number of companies who can bid for the project.

Metro Route & Plan

Route Terminals Stations Opening Date

Route 1 Technoc ity Kariavat tom

TBARoute 2 Kesava dasapur am Karamana

Route 3 Kariavat tom Kesava dasapur am

Total 19 2025

The Thiruvananthapuram line will start from Technocity and terminate at Karamana covering a distance of 22.537 km with 19 stations, along the old NH 47. Slight accommodations were made for the proposed flyovers at Kazhakuttam, Sreekariyam and Ulloor. Special spans are proposed where the line crosses the railway line at Railway Km 221/6-8. The car depot is located on a 12.5 hectares of Government land near the CRPF Camp at Pallipuram.

The project will be built in 3 phases. Stations would be located at Technocity, Pallippuram, Kaniyapuram, Kazhakootam Junction, Karyavattom, Gurumandiram, Pangappara, Sreekariyam, Pongumoodu, Ulloor, Kesavadasapuram, Pattom, Plamood, Palayam, Secretariat, Thampanoor, Killipalam, and Karamana.

The line will be built in three phases.

Route 1 covers a distance of 7 km from Technocity to Kariavattom. It is expected to be commissioned 30 months after the contractor is finalised. The metro will have provisions for extension towards the south up to Neyyattinkara as well as towards north to Attingal. There is another proposal to extend the network to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.

Key Figures & Metro Details

Estimated

Number

Station Names : Technocity, Pallipuram, Kaniyapuram, Kazhakoottam, Kazhakoottam Junction, Kariavattom, Gurumandiram, Pangapara, Sreekaryam, Ulloor, Kesavadasapuram, Pattom, Plamoodu, Palayam, Secretariat, Thampanoor (Trivandrum Central Railway Station), Killipalam, Karamana

Project Cost

The cost of the project, based in April 2012 prices, was Rs. 27.0256 billion excluding taxes of Rs. 4.75 billion. The cost to construct each kilometre of the metro was estimated as Rs. 1617.1 million. The Design, Build-Operate-Transfer (DBOT) mode

was proposed. The State and Union governments were to each pay 20% of the cost, and the rest was to be paid by other investors such as banks.

In the 2012 State Budget, finance minister K. M. Mani, allotted Rs. 200 million for the Thiruvananthapuram project. The project will be financed in part by a 5% state government surcharge on petrol and diesel sales. The surcharge is expected to bring in Rs. 2.50 billion per year. The operation and maintenance costs are divided into three major parts - staff costs, maintenance cost which include expenditure towards upkeep and maintenance of the system and consumables, and energy costs. In 2015, the cost for the Technocity - Karamana section was revised to Rs. 4,219 crore.

Monorail Proposals

Representatives of Hyundai Rotem proposed in 2012 to use Maglev technology for setting up a mass rapid transport system in the city. On 28 August 2014, the state government decided to build a conventional rail metro rather than a monorail, as with then under construction Kochi Metro, in both Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, mainly due to the prohibitive costs cited by prospective manufacturers.

Personal Rapid Transit

A Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system in Thiruvananthapuram has been proposed by INKEL ltd. A shift of 40% of the car and auto rickshaw travellers to the new system is expected. The PRT

will function as a feeder mode of transport to supplement the metro.

The project will be completed in two phases. The first will be from Pallipuram to Thampanoor and the second from Thampanoor to Neyyattinkara. Thirty-five stations are proposed and the track will pass through Vellayambalam, Palayam, Statue, Overbridge, East Fort and Thampanoor. The approximate cost of the project is Rs. 60 crore per kilometre and it can be completed in 24 to 30 months. Finance Minister K.M. Mani allocated Rs. 2.5 million in the 2012-13 State Budget for preliminary work on the PRT in Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam. The project is expected to be completed in 24 months from date of commencement.

Conclusion

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) Light Metro with 1 line and 19 stations is a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system approved to be built in the city of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala’s capital. Trivandrum Metro’s Phase 1 project will be executed by Kerala Rapid Transit Corporation Limited (KRTL), a special purpose vehicle of the government of Kerala. In January 2016, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was appointed the interim consultant, but quit the project in 2018 due to slow progress. The project in 2017 was put on hold due to its high cost and low ridership projections which were not in line with the Government of India’s new Metro Rail Policy. A revised DPR prepared by the DMRC was approved by KRTL’s board in October 2020 and by Kerala’s state government in February 2021

Railways/Urban Transport

Construction & Infra Companies.

& Railway Contractors.

Professionals & Consultants.

Ministry/Govt. Department.

Prayagraj Metro

Plans to develop the light transit system for the city before Mahakumbh - 2025

Introduction

Prayagraj Light Metro with 2 lines & 39 stations is a light rail transit (LRT) system proposed to be built in Prayagraj (Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh by the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (UPMRCL).

In 2017, the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRCL) was assigned as the ‘coordinator’ by the Government of Uttar Pradesh to bring all stakeholders together and get its Phase 1 project started. Later in the year, RITES was assigned to prepare its feasibility report and Detailed Project Report, which was submitted to the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) in November 2019.

The proposed system will consist of two lines, an east-west line from Manauri to Trivenipuram, and a north-south line from Shantipuram in Jalalapur to Karchana. Both lines will be about 20 kilometres long. There will be a total of 39 stations, 20 on the east-west line and 19 on the north-south line. The project is expected to cost Rs. 8000 crore.

Key Figures

Operational : 0 Km

Under Construction : 0 Km

Approved : 0 Km

Proposed : 42 Km

Proposed Lines

Line 1 (East – West Line) : Manauri to Trivenipuram

Type : Elevated Line 2 (North – South Line) : Shantipuram in Jalalapur to Karchana

Type : Elevated Interchange station will be built at Parade Grounds near Alopibagh

The Metrolite Project likely to roll out ahead of Mahakumbh-2025

Metrolite is a light rail urban transit system being planned in India for cities with lower ridership projection. If all goes as per plan, locals and visitors including tourists and pilgrims to Sangam city would be enjoying comfortable rides on board ‘Metrolite’ before Mahakumbh-2025 gets underway in Prayagraj.

Metrolite is a light rail urban transit system being planned in India for cities with lower ridership projection and as a feeder system for the existing metro systems. It will cater to lower passenger capacity at a reduced cost than a metro line. It will have dedicated tracks, separated from the road. UP CM

Yogi Aditya Nath in a recent statement said that the state government has made plans to organize Mahakumbh of 2025 at a grander scale than Kumbh – 2019. The CM therefore has asked his officials to prepare a detailed and concrete action plan in this regard.

Eyeing the task ahead few developments have already being made by the state government. As per Divisional Commissioner, Prayagraj Mr. Sanjay Goyal the survey for Prayagraj Metrolite has already commenced between Phaphamau and Bamhrauli besides Andawa and Chaufatka. It is expected that a route between either of the two stretches would start before the Mahakumbh for the light transit system of the city.

The officials from Lucknow have also informed that for the state government, the countdown of Mahakumbh-2025 has already begun. The divisional commissioner informed that before the Mahakumbh, information and processing of all the facilities provided to institutions and seers would be computerised and would be provided through an online portal.

Likewise, work to develop digital Kumbh museum would also soon begin. A light and sound show is being prepared to be held at Chandra Shekhar Azad Park, which will be started soon. An action plan has also been sought from the health department, in which constructions in view of Kumbh would be included, informed the divisional commissioner. After listening to all the points, the principal secretary of the state has suggested that whatever works are being done, authorities should definitely talk to the stakeholders in the district. This includes judges, lawyers, litterateurs, industrialists, businessmen, social workers and seers. Only after talking to them, administration should come up with a concrete action plan. The state government has already earmarked Rs. 100 crore for Mahakumbh-2025 preparations in the recently presented budget. But till now the budget allotment has not been done due to non-preparation of an action plan of the departments as per officials.

The officials from the city have also informed the state government that the approach roads for temples were being widened and repaired. It has been reported that the roads between Lalita Devi and Takshak Teerth needs to be widened. In such a situation, the Public Works Department (PWD) is now conducting a survey for the same. The district administration have also informed that flyovers have to be built to reduce the crowd at intersections. The Public Works Department has also been asked to prepare a proposal in this regard as well. The proposal to build a ramp at Dashashwamedh Ghat has already been prepared. Along with this, the ramp of Bakshi Bund will be further developed.

Rapid Transit in India

helping urban transport system grow sustainable

Abstract

India is undergoing rapid transformation in the urban transportation sector thanks to the consistent focus of the government and its efforts on bringing in private participation through the public-private partnership (PPP) model. With the entry of private players, there has been a lot of focus on technology adoption and up-gradation, making the urban transportation sector cleaner, faster and greener.

The nation saw rapid growth in metro operations with some key metro projects being Kochi, Jaipur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur and Lucknow, while metro routes in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata got further expanded. The government is putting a lot of focus on indigenisation through the Atmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India and Vocal for Local programmes to push indigenous technologies and capabilities. This has led to many companies such as Bharat Earth Movers Limited and Alstom, among others, manufacturing metro coaches in India. There are several companies such as ABB and Mitsubishi Electric, which are manufacturing various metro components in India. Ample domestic capacity is also being developed for the construction of civil structures.

In August 2017, the government approved a new metro rail policy, which basically provides guidelines for the development of urban transport systems across the cities in a responsible manner, considering multimodal integration, last-mile connectivity, selection of the most suited urban transit system, creation of the UMTA and financing aspects. The policy has not only accelerated metro rail implementation but has also helped in creating an ecosystem for improving the urban mobility scenario in the country. Currently, over half a dozen cities where metro projects are operational have set up UMTAs, notified transit-oriented development policy and have a comprehensive mobility plan in place for overall improvement in urban mobility. Identification of urban transport projects under the NIP, development of standard specifications for MetroNeo, MetroLite and watermetro, standardisation and the local content stipulation under the Make in India programme are some of the other initiatives that are helping strengthen the development of the urban transport sector in the country.

Technology embedded Services ensuring timely completion of projects

The Indian metro system today is at par with any other metro system in the world in terms of digitalisation and technology adoption. Whether it is the signalling system (CBTC system), modern lightweight aluminium built rolling stock, IoTbased asset management system or the adaptation of BIM, digitalised passenger information systems, fare collection systems including proximity smart card/QR-based ticketing systems enhancing passenger convenience, all sectors in metro railways in India are technologically enhanced and upgraded. The adoption of intelligent transportation systems is the need of the hour to improve traffic congestion and help reduce carbon emissions. It is also noticed that the government is leaning towards future-forward technology tools which include artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, 5G internet connectivity and cloud engineering. All these technological capabilities and their adoption have the potential to turn around the entire landscape of urban transportation.

(i) As part of the digitalisation initiatives, 5D building information modelling (BIM), along with a system analysis program, is being incorporated on a .NET platform for a seamless management information system experience. The automatic fare collection (AFC) gates at the metro stations are another example of how technology can facilitate commuter movement. Besides, the mobile application caters to ticketless commuting. For e.g. the Nagpur Metro will also be incorporating digital kiosks and incident management systems soon. It is further looking to implement the .NET platform and form a board of stakeholders from the railways, metro railway organisations and other urban

transport bodies in order to provide uniformity across India and ensure faster decision-making to help speed up execution works.

(ii) Over the years, there has been a shortening of the construction period of metro rail projects in the country, in some cases to even under three years. One of the main reasons for quicker execution is the advancement in construction technology. Most of the metro rail construction work is now occurring off-site, using extensive mechanisation and digital tools for monitoring and control. An Integrated project management system comprising 5D BIM solutions, AI/machine learning-based digital dashboards, drone-based solutions and IoT/sensors are being deployed effectively in most of the metro rail projects which are under construction. For operations and maintenance (O&M) as well, new technologies such as advanced analytics for predictive maintenance, IoT-based devices for conditionbased maintenance and a digital asset management system are being explored. Technologies such as the national common mobility card, journey planners and MaaS are helping in integrating various modes of transport and providing seamless connectivity to passengers.

The Lucknow Metro rail network is one of the best examples of technology and advancement. Project monitoring is being done with the best tools available. The entire team works on one platform and interface, otherwise it would have been impossible to complete these projects. UPMRC has also brought in BIM technology. 3D BIM is being used and may move on to 5D depending on the cost and time factors in the future. This is bringing in a lot of improvement in project design, building an interface between different systems and cable routings.

Signalling is advanced and we have used a communicationbased train control system. In addition, we have opted for an AFC system with smart cards and quick response codes.

In general, metro operations are undergoing a digital revolution with internet of things enabling onboard sensors to deliver realtime analysis and monitoring, automating maintenance and ensuring that a trains’ location is always 100 per cent accurate. Drones are already in use for identifying problems, assisting

maintenance workers and providing additional security by offering a view of trespassers or other threats.

To overcome the challenges of cost and time, virtual reality is being used to create a 3D model of a product, test its efficiency virtually and then bring it to market. The concept of driverless trains is gaining traction. A driver-free network can be more predictable, maximise capacity and remove the element of human error.

Implementation of the emerging technology for common ticketing through a national common mobility card will make transport systems more accessible, sustainable and seamless. Other trends include:

• Equipping ticket counters with a unified payment interface with static quick response (QR) codes for digital payments.

• Developing mobile applications to facilitate smart card recharges and enabling QR code ticket at metros.

• Equipping ticket counters with point-of-sale machines at stations to enable credit and debit card payments.

• Collaborating with Google Maps for providing train schedules and train frequency to save travel time.

• Collaborating with popular mobile applications for smart card recharges and QR code tickets. BMRCL for instance, is in the process of interacting with various other modes of transport to promote the concept of mobility-as-a-service (MaaS).

In an area already developed without a sustainable planning approach, retrofitting infrastructure becomes a tedious task, involving a huge cost for land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation. Governments have to offer attractive incentives to property owners and developers to come forward for land pooling along the development area and promote the concept of transfer of development rights. There are multiple agencies involved in land development in or around the transit-oriented development corridor; therefore, capacity building of persons involved in the implementation of TOD and multimodal integration plans need to be taken care of, to bring them on the same platform. Further, multiple agencies are involved in roadbased transport, leading to delays in implementation. Hence, there is a need for creating a single agency for all road-based transport for effective coordination, similar to the UMTA.

Metrolite & Metro Neo as new options to traditional metro systems

Urban transportation in India is still facing perennial financing troubles and revenue shortfall, which has been further amplified by the unprecedented Covid-19 outbreak. While the situation is normalising post the mass vaccination across the globe, financial stability for operators is still some way away. Fare box collections are nowhere adequate to recover project costs.

Another issue affecting the sector is delayed land acquisition, which continues to be a spanner to project implementation. The sector is also facing first- and last-mile connectivity issues, which dissuade people from availing of MRTSs. An integrated body of UMTA is the need of the hour. India needs to devote much of its efforts towards setting up empowered UMTAs at the state and city levels to give its urban residents a better quality of life.

There are financial concerns as these projects require heavy capital investments and significant O&M costs. Most of the metro rail projects in the country do not even make operational profits. That said, the financial sustainability challenges can be overcome through alternative technological options, project structuring to bring private investments, regulatory measures, emphasis on micro mobility, improving last-mile connectivity, focus on transit-oriented development, land value capture mechanisms and adopting measures that disincentivise private motorised transport

India’s urban transport sector is steadily taking the shape of a system rather than loosely connected modes. The advent of two new technologies – MetroLite and MetroNeo – to provide metro rail systems at a much lower cost with the same experience, convenience and safety in Tier II cities and peripheral areas of Tier I cities, will provide a fillip to the urban transportation system across the country. Another revolution in rail connectivity in the offing is the regional rapid transport system (RRTS). This modern transit facility would enhance connectivity and boost economic development along the corridors and adjacent regions. Being a high-priority programme of the government, the future outlook of the urban transportation sector in India remains bright.

The urban transport sector will continue to evolve, with an emphasis on adopting cost-effective mass transit solutions such as MetroLite and MetroNeo in smaller cities or as feeders to the main metro systems in large cities. There will also be increasing consideration for comprehensive and seamless mobility, transit-oriented development and joint physical asset creation of multiple transport projects with urban transport being the focal point. Recently, comprehensive O&M of the RRTS line from Delhi to Meerut has been handed over to a private concessionaire. It is expected that O&M of a greater number of metro rail systems will be completely outsourced to the private sector in the immediate future. This is expected to improve the service quality and efficiency and bring down the overall O&M cost.

Conclusion

The urban transport sector has been growing at a faster pace in India in recent times, with about 750 km of metro rail line under operation across 19 cities, with 70 per cent of the network having become operational after 2014. Over the past few years, approximately 40 per cent of the total budget of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has been allocated consistently for the implementation of metro rail projects across the country. In line with Vision 2025 for urban public transport, there is a continued push to make MRTS and bus connectivity available within 800 metres of homes in more than 50 cities, for which Rs 5,733.66 billion is planned to be invested under the National

Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). The urban transport sector has also been identified as one of the seven engines of growth under the PM Gati Shakti programme to achieve nation-wide integrated infrastructure development as per the central government’s vision.

With increasing government focus, the urban transport sector has witnessed rapid growth in recent times. As part of its commitment to urban transportation, the Government of India has introduced the ambitious PM Gati Shakti-National Master Plan for a Multi-modal Connectivity mega project, which would lead to massive government spending on roads, railways, highways, ports and public transport. With a clear focus on infrastructural reforms, this is going to be the key driver in accelerating India’s economy. The mass rapid transit system (MRTS) in India has taken a substantial leap with 791 km of operational metro rail network. Vision 2025 for urban public transport envisages MRTS being made available in more than 50 cities in India by 2025. The government has taken up metro rail feasibility studies across cities with over 2 million population. With over 1,000 km of metro and regional rapid transit system projects currently under various phases of development, very soon, 27 Indian cities will have operational metro services.

On the policy front, the Metro Rail Policy, 2017 advises cities to develop a comprehensive mobility plan under a statutory body, Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA). The setting up of UMTAs is currently at various stages in 12 states where the metro rail network has either commenced or is under construction.

Growing urbanisation has necessitated urban mobility solutions to prevent pollution and traffic-related problems. India’s urban transport sector has seen significant growth in the past few years owing to key initiatives such as the metro rail policy, increased financial assistance to metro rail projects, and promotion of indigenous technologies and capabilities. New modes of transit, MetroNeo and Metrolite, are emerging as potential and viable transit systems for Tier II and III cities. The sector is witnessing rapid adoption of technologies such as contactless ticketing, advanced signalling systems, driverless operations, and building information modelling. Metro operators are also actively looking at augmenting non-fare revenues and improving first- and last-mile connectivity.

Urban Mobility

Future of Urban Mobility in India and way forward

Indian cities are characterized by increasing levels of congestion, pollution, road accidents and inequality in access to mobility. The need for better urban mobility in order to build inclusive, safer and more sustainable cities cannot be underestimated.

Status of Urban Transport in India

Major Modes of Public Urban Transport:

• Buses are the prime mover for both inter-city and intra-city travels in most urban centres. However, in recent times there has been a loss in ridership. Other modes include metro rail, trams, and local trains.

• Intermediate public transport system (IPT): All Indian cities feature large numbers of auto rickshaws, taxis, cycle rickshaws and forms of informal car pooling

• The range of public transport services vary considerably across cities. For example: Only Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai have extensive suburban rail services whereas Delhi has limited suburban rail services. Currently, 15 Indian cities have operational metro rail with Delhi having the largest metro rail system.

Problems faced by Urban Transport in India:

1. Unprecedented Transport Growth: According to Niti Aayog, the number of registered motor vehicles has increased from 5.4 million in 1981 to 295 million in 2019. This rapid growth in demand in the absence of widespread public transport system has caused a rapid increase of private car ownership in India.

2. Inadequate Public Transport: According to government data, there are about 19 lakh buses in the country and only 2.8 lakh of them are run either by state transport undertaking or under stage carriage permits. China has about six buses for 1,000 people while India has only four buses per 10,000 people.

3. Further, a CSE study points out that the share of public transport is expected to decrease from 75.5% in 2000-01, to 44.7 per cent in 2030-31, while the share of personal transport will be more than 50%.

4. Urban Pollution: According to a WHO study 14 out of the top 15 most polluted cities in the world belong to India. Vehicular pollution has been one of the major contributors to rising urban air pollution in Indian cities along with other factors such as construction activity, road dust and industrial activity.

5. Urban Congestion: Major Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru are ranked among world’s most congested cities. For example: Average speed for vehicles in Bengaluru is reported as 17 km/h. These high levels of congestion have huge economic implications in the form of reduced productivity, fuel waste, and accidents. Further, there is an acute shortage of parking spaces both on and off the streets in the urban centres.

6. Road safety- Traffic injuries and fatality: India is one of the countries with an alarmingly high number of road accidents. Every year, lakhs of road accidents are registered across the country, which causes deaths to lakhs of people and severe injuries to an even higher number of people. Road accidents not only have a crippling effect on human lives and their families but on the overall economy at large of the country as well.

India recorded 1.5 lakh road accident fatalities in 2020, which was 26.37 per cent of total road accidents recorded in 207 countries. The major reasons for traffic crashes include poor quality of roads, poor traffic management, unsafe and overcrowded vehicles and unsafe driving behaviour.

7. Equity Issues: Unplanned urbanization in India has led to gentrification (as per upper and middle socio-economic class) of city centres and lower income groups are forced to live in peripheral suburbs which have increased their cost and time they allocate to commute. Most of the lower income groups and urban poor fail to afford private transport and even public transport are high for them. For example, a CSE study ranks Delhi Metro as the second most unaffordable metro (after Hanoi in Vietnam) with lower income group people spending nearly 22% of their monthly transport on Delhi Metro fares.

8. Mobility for women: Safety or the lack thereof, is the single biggest factor constraining women’s mobility. According to Action Aid UK, 79% of women in major Indian cities reported being harassed on streets. Overcrowding in public transport adds to insecurity and safety issues with a large number of women complaining about harassment in public transport across major Indian cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

Initiatives to address Urban Transport issues in India

(i) Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission JNNURM, 2005: JNNURM was launched in 2005 and closed in 2014 (now succeeded by Atal AMRUT Mission). It attempted to improve the public transport system in larger cities through funding of public transport buses, development of comprehensive city mobility plans and supporting city transport infrastructure projects.

(ii) National Urban Transport Policy, 2006: The policy envisages safe, affordable, quick, comfortable, reliable and sustainable urban transport through establishment of quality focused multi-modal public transport systems.

(iii) Green Urban Transport Scheme, 2016:. The scheme aims to improve non-motorised transport infrastructure such as dedicated lanes for cycling, pedestrians, increasing access to public transport, use of clean technologies and adoption of intelligent transport systems (ITS).

(iv) Mass Rapid Transit/ Transport Systems (MRTS): The metro rail has come up as a favoured alternative of mass transport in Indian cities. In 2017, the government introduced new Metro Policy which aims to improve collaborations, standardising norms, financing and creating a procurement mechanism so that the projects can be implemented effectively.

(v) Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS): BRTS segregates the movement of buses from all other transport modes, and introduces other changes in the road infrastructure that are associated with safety. BRTS is an important component of AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation)

(vi) National Transit Oriented Development Policy, 2017: The policy framework aims to promote living close to mass urban transit corridors like the Metros, monorail and bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors.

(vii) Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP): The project in partnership with Ministry of Urban Development and UNDP aims to promote environmentally sustainable urban transport in India.

(viii) Personal Rapid Transit System (PRT): It is a transport mode combining small automated vehicles, known as pods, operating on a network of specially built guideways. In 2017, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had called the expression of interest (EOI) for launching India’s first driverless pod taxi systems on a 70 km stretch from Dhaula Kuan in Delhi to Manesar in Haryana. The 70-km stretch from Dhaula Kuan to Manesar will decongest the NCR and ease traffic on NH8, giving great relief to airport passengers and scores of daily office-goers. The first phase will include a pilot project covering 13-km stretch from Gurgaon-Delhi border to Badshapur Mod with a total of 16 stations. The Transport ministry has earmarked Rs 850 crore for the pilot project. The ropeway-like system runs on electricity and driverless pods and comes down at designated stations, thus removing the traffic burden from crowded roads. The capital cost of the metrino is Rs 50 crore per km against Rs 250 crore per km of the metro.

(ix) National Public Bicycle Scheme (NPBS): In 2011, NPBS was launched to build capacity for the implementation and operation of cycle sharing systems across the country. The first public bicycle sharing (PBS) initiative — Trin Trin was launched in Mysuru. Modern cycle sharing systems employ information technology systems to ensure security, provide real-time customer information, and facilitate the redistribution of cycles. These IT features enable the operator to ensure that cycles are available when and where users need them. IT systems also provide a way for the implementing agency to monitor system status and ensure that the operator meets service level standards. A combination of good engineering and constant oversight on the part of the government will ensure that cycle

sharing systems can attract a diverse set of users. The toolkit was developed on behalf of the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, as part of India’s National Public Bicycle Scheme.

(x) Promotion of Electric Vehicles: Indian Government plans to have an all-electric fleet of vehicles by 2030. For promotion of electric vehicles FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (hybrid &) Electric vehicles. Under FAME, the Centre subsidizes the cost of electric buses and has sanctioned 390 buses in 11 cities (as of April 2018).

Institutional Challenges & Measures Taken

• Gaps in Laws and regulations: The urban transport requirements and issues in Indian cities have often been the victim of political will and lackadaisical approach of the executing agencies, groups etc. resulting in project delays and cost overruns Further, the weak enforcement and lacunae in existing laws such as the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 on a number of occasions have proved to be inefficacious thereby emphasizing a need on amendments as per new age requirement. The government has amended the Act and added modifications in the Central Motor Vehicles rules, 1989 to remove the bottlenecks and lacuna.

• Poor Institutional Framework: Functions of Urban transport system are performed by multiple agencies under the central, state and city governments which lack coordination and makes accountability difficult. To address to the need the government has recently launched the PM Gati-Shakti Yojna (or National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity) which emphasizes a digital platform to bring 16 ministries including railways and roadways together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.

• Land as a Barrier to development of Transport Infrastructure: High cost of land acquisition and time-consuming processes has been a major hindrance to integrated urban transport infrastructure. For example, land acquisition issues have delayed the East-West metro Corridor Project in Kolkata over years. Similarly, until change of government in Maharashtra the country’s first bullet train project got delayed due to negligence by then Maharashtra government in land acquisitions.

• Human Resource Challenges: Lack of urban transport skills amongst city and state officials is a major challenge in effectively implementing transport projects. The government in this regard is working on mission mode to enhance the skills of the workforce through a number of training and skill development centres, technology embedded programs, induction of new courses and curriculum along with overseas training& induction, partnership and exchange programs etc. as various other measures taken to enhance the skill of the manpower involved.

Recommendations by National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog:

• It calls for a 3C Framework (Clean, Convenient and Congestion free) for transforming mobility in India. To achieve this, it lays down the following action-agenda:

A. Connect Bharat:

Niti Aayog calls for a Safe, Adequate and Holistic Infrastructure (SAHI) for the Indian population including women, elderly and the disabled. Major recommendations for achieving this:

(i) Increased emphasis on safety and accessibility

(ii) Leveraging multiple modes of transport – road, rail, coastal and inland waterways, small regional airports, ropeways etc.

(iii) Higher usage of data for holistic mobility needs

B. Optimize Travel footprint:

It calls for increased emphasis to reduce congestion caused by passenger and goods flow in urban areas. Major recommendations include:

(i) Integrated land use - Planning residential and commercial complexes in an integrated manner so that travel time is reduced

(ii) Focused policy based measures for optimizing travel (iii) Data-based measures such as intelligent transport systems

C. Promote Seamless Public Transport:

It calls for an efficient and convenient public transport to address the issue of air pollution and congestion in Indian cities. Major recommendations include:

(i) Data-driven planning and urban transport, with a clear hierarchy amongst different modes- from nonmotorized(pedestrians, cycles) to public and lastly private transport.

(ii) Focus on multi-modal systems

(iii) Make public transport affordable, comfortable and accessible for urban India, to ensure better adoption

D. Adopting Green Modes and Technologies:

It calls for rapid adoption of electric vehicles and non-motorized transport (NMT). Major recommendations include:

(i) To improve adoption of non-motorized transport, the routes and paths should be planned so that they integrate seamlessly with public transport.

(ii) To ensure safety for NMT users by outlining norms & dedicated traffic signals should be a key priority.

(iii) There should be a clear push towards clean technologies. This has to be enabled through ecosystem development which includes domestic manufacturing, deployment of charging infrastructure etc.

For effective execution of these actions-agenda, the Niti Aayog recommends to optimise the following strategic enablers:

• Skill development which will ensure high employability and address the issue of human resource demand

• Intelligent Transport systems based on ongoing technological developments

• Well-defined Governance mechanism involving different stakeholders.

• A strong public awareness and communication campaign

Conclusion

The Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India (MoUD) came out with the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) in 2006 to bring about comprehensive improvements in urban transport services and infrastructure. The policy focus was on moving people rather than vehicles. Eight years later, Institute of Urban Transport (India), a professional body promoted by MoUD, undertook a comprehensive review of the NUTP 2006. After a series of consultations, that included taking cognisance of recommendations of working groups on urban transport, interviews and comments of officials from various cities, review of international practice, and several workshops and roundtable discussions, the NUTP 2014 was finalised and published.

The National Urban Transport Policy 2014 recognises the huge deficit in urban transport services and infrastructure both in quality and quantity. The use of desirable modes of transport -- walk, bicycle, and public transport -- is declining and the use of undesirable modes, i.e. car and two-wheelers, is growing. As a result, congestion is increasing, urban mobility as well as road safety are declining, and pollution, use of fossil fuel, and accidents are rising by the day.

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a Delhi-based nongovernmental organization, has forecast that India’s commercial energy demand and emissions would increase by about six to seven times by 2031-32, if nothing is done to curb the emissions. The NUTP 2014 seeks to encourage growth of urban transport along a low carbon path. The progress in implementation of the NUTP in our cities also needs greater participation of citizens and central-state coordination. Changes need to happen before Indian cities double in population by 2050 (World Economic Forum, 2016).

The government is making stupendous efforts on strengthening the transport infrastructure in the country. From roads to waterways and railways all sectors of transport are being revamped to cater to the needs of ever-increasing vehicular traffic and urban population in the country. Adequate infrastructure for moving people through means, such as bicycle tracks, dedicated pedestrian pathways, green-fields etc. are also being developed at multiple levels to promote ecofriendly transport options.

Therefore, the need of the hour is to focus on public transportation (PT) in India, especially, low carbon non-motorised transport (NMT). As income levels increase, people too aspire to shift to private transport, due to infrequency and unreliability of public transport. As a result, the use of such desirable modes of transportation (such as NMT or PT) is declining and the use of undesirable modes (i.e. car and 2-wheelers) is growing. To keep India walking, the government needs to oversee an incremental and mixed mode approach for a transition into a low carbon pathway. Cities and states needs to be pro-active and may consider following interventions for sustainable urban mobility solutions:

• A Comprehensive and Integrated Transport Plan for Each City: City transport is administered by various modal agencies such as the city bus corporation like DTC, the municipality, the rail and metro-rail corporation, the city development authority like DDA, etc. What is really required is an integrated process of transport planning for co-ordinated inter-city and intra-city transport. Sustainable urban transportation system, however requires, integration of Land Use and Transport Planning. The Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy will build a roadmap in integrating public transport systems with the built environment.

• Future centric and smart transport systems : More and more cities in the country are going for MRT, LRT and monorail transport systems. With a well-known fact that these are capital intensive transport systems that require massive capital and operating subsidies, for most of the rapidly growing Tier-II and Tier-II cities the urban rail transit system being developed seems to be the most viable option towards a sustainable, clean and eco-friendly transport option as long term public transport assets. However, seeing the population densities, urban form and socio-economic conditions of the cities a more interactive transport option can also be envisaged where Intermediate public transport (IPT) modes like e-rickshaws, shared autos and cycle rickshaws and NMT can be prioritized as they can meet

the travel demands in small and medium size cities. Even within large cities, 20 to 30 per cent of the family income of nearly 50 percent those living in unauthorized settlements is spent on public transport. Therefore, a mixed modal strategy can also be ascertained in different cities to cater to different segments of the population.

• System-based Approach is Critical : Transport networks cannot exist in silos. Sustainable urban mobility calls for Intermodal Integration, i.e., integration of various modes of transport to provide seamless connectivity for the commuters. Last mile connectivity is an important factor for determining the success of public transport system in a city.

• Empowering Municipal Governments and Citizens : Municipalities needs to be empowered by providing autonomy in functions, finances and functionaries for better citizen engagement in city planning. The Smart Cities Mission focuses on developing sustainable and shared mobility systems, in addition to laying smart roads, street redesign and smart parking systems. Huge resources are being spent on improving urban transport projects such as real time bus tracking system, smart bus shelters and junction improvements (MoHUA 2018). There is need to create demand from the bottom-up level to increasing citizen participation and urban practitioners’ awareness.

• Making Public Transportation Accountable : For Indian cities to be livable, urban mobility, especially, public transport such as bus and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems must become a vital part of urban growth. We need to think of innovative ways of financing our PT ventures and operate to dis-incentivize private vehicles. There is need to improve operations of PT by adopting Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and GPS tracking of buses for better route planning. This would induce a long term behavioural change where people are encouraged to go for public transport. Additionally, different modes of urban rail transit (rapid transit, suburban rail, monorail and tram systems) need to be greatly emphasized for a clean and eco-friendly transport system.

• Providing Barrier-free Integrated Transport Solutions For Vulnerable Groups : To make cities more inclusive and to address the requirements of the vulnerable sections of the population, planners need to take into account the concerns of different segments of the population during transport planning. Women represent the largest share of public transport users around the world, yet they face many barriers that limit their mobility and entry into the formal work-force. Therefore, all experiences of public transport, such as those of women, children, the poor and the disabled needs to be taken into consideration, budgeted and planned for. The buses and train corridors, stops and junctions need to be well lit, easily accessible and located in crime-free areas.

Way Forward

For India to achieve resilient and inclusive cities, it is necessary to continuously plan for a low carbon model of growth in our cities, rather than focussing on physical infrastructure for vehicle mobility alone. The need is to build compact cities with a mixed land use and integrating transport planning with land use

planning which emphasizes, on one hand, women participation and lead to inclusive sustainable urban growth, on the other. The planners, city authorities and civil society all have to join the mission to make our cities a better place to live in. The need is to implement NUTP for more mobile cities.

1. To address the institutional challenges there is a need for better cooperation among different transport agencies, departments, and ministries as well as better coordination of transport and land-use policies. Further, there should be adequate funding to address various issues plaguing public transport infrastructure

2. To address the issues of urban congestion and urban air pollution, it is important to augment mass and share transit capacity and discourage use of private cars by enforcing restraint measures through parking policy, low emissions zones approach, tax measures and congestion pricing. Further, policies toward enhancing public transport should promote inclusive access to mobility.

3. Well engineered, safe infrastructure for travel should be ensured. Further, there is an urgent need to address the issue of low woman mobility by ensuring women safety through gender-sensitive transport policies, dedicated seats/ coaches and emergency helplines.

4. There should be focus on enhancing non-motorised transport. Focus should be to encourage use of non-motorised transport for short distances. Further, Pedestrian zones, bike lanes should be made to ensure safety to commuters. For example, well designated Bike-lanes and bike-sharing solutions have promoted use of bicycles as a mean of transport in cities like Amsterdam and Paris.

5. Commuters should be provided with multiple modes of connectivity. To ease out travelling, a single smart card can be provided. For example, London’s Oyster ‘smart’ card enables a commuter to change from one mode to another with minimal loss of time or effort.

TENDER DETAILS

Metro Rail

LOCATION VALUE DEADLINE

Corrigendum : Supply Of Inverter Module Of Aux Converter For Medha Rake Of Kolkata Metro As Per Medha Price List Code No Sp676201037 West Bengal, India Refer Document 21-12-2022

Corrigendum : Supply Of Inverter Module Of Aux Converter For Medha Rake Of Kolkata Metro As Per Medha Price List Code No Sp676201037 Karnataka, India Refer Document Refer Document

Corrigendum : Supply Of Inverter Module Of Aux Converter For Medha Rake Of Kolkata Metro As Per Medha Price List Code No Sp676201037

Design, Manufacture, Supply, Installation, Testing And Commissioning Of 318 Nos Of Standard Gauge Metro Cars And Training Of Personnel Including Comprehensive Maintenance Up To Fifteen Years.

Karnataka, India

Karnataka, India

Refer Document

INR 29 44 CR.

Refer Document

Refer Document

Corrigendum : Project Management Consultant (Pmc) For PhaseIi Corridor From Jln Stadium To Infopark Via Kakkanad Of Kochi Metro Rail Project . Kerala, India Refer Document 21-11-2022

Corrigendum : Construction Of Five (05) Ug Stations At Kmc(Kilpauk),Sterling Road, Nungambakkam, Gemini(Anna Flyover), Thousand Lights And Thousand Lights Cross Over Box And Works Other Than Diaphragm Wall Of Two Ug Stations At Royapettah Chetpet Metro In C3

Tamil Nadu, India

INR 1176.00 CR. 21-11-2022

Project Management Consultant (Pmc) For Phase- Ii Corridor From Jln Stadium To Infopark Via Kakkanad Of Kochi Metro Rail Project Kerala, India Refer Document 17 11-2022

Design, Supply, Installation, Testing And Commissioning Of Ballast Less Track Of Standard Gauge In Elevated Vidauct Section Between Silk Board Metro Station, And Between Krishnarjpuram Metro Sation To Kempaura Metro Staiton In A Baiyppnhalli Depot Along With Ballasted Track In Baiypppnahali Depot Of Bangalore Metor Rail Project.

Karnataka, India INR 267 48 CR. Refer Document

Corrigendum : Ramp And Works Other Than Diaphragm Wall Of One Underground Station At Thiruvanmiyur Metro In Corridor 3 Of Cmrl Phase-Ii Projec Tamil Nadu, India

INR 606.00 CR. 14-11-2022

Preparation Of Dpr For Management Of Sludge And Reuse Of Treated Waste Water Generated From Different Stps Under Control Of Kolkata MetroPolitan Development Authority West Bengal, India Refer Document 14-11-2022

Design, Supply, Installation, Testing And Commissioning Of Ballasted / Ballastless Track Of Standard Gauge In Phase-2a And 2b And In Baiyappanahalli And Airport Depots For Bangalore Metro Project.

Karnataka, India Refer Document 14-11-2022

“Supply, Installation, Testing And Commissioning Of E & M Works For 02 Nos. Elevated Stations- Aquarium And Athwa Chopati On Corridor 2, In Connection With Surat Metro Rail, Phase-1 Package Em-03” Gujarat, India

“Supply, Installation, Testing And Commissioning Of E & M Works For 02 Nos. Elevated Stations- Aquarium And Athwa Chopati On Corridor 2, In Connection With Surat Metro Rail, Phase-1 Package Em-03”

Japan International Cooperation Agency For The Implementation Of The Mumbai Metro Line 3 (Colaba - Bandra - Seepz) Project. Sealed For 'Design, Manufacture, Supply, Installation, Testing And Implementation' Of Rescue Vehicles (Including Railroad - Road Vehicles - Railings And Rescue Equipment). (Hindi Image)

Gujarat, India

INR 10.75 CR. 10-11-2022

INR 10.75 CR. 10-11-2022

Maharashtra, India Refer Document

Refer Document

Weld