Overview
The suburban rail system for the city has been proposed in order to allow people to live in satellite towns and travel comfortably, reducing the strain on urban infrastructure. The Delhi Metro Board conceived of the scheme in 2003. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation presented the Detailed Project Review to the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) in October 2005. GIDB forwarded it to RITES for verification. The project was approved in 2009 but could not be implemented. MoU had been signed with Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd for a suburban railway system in Ahmedabad during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit 2015. It was later announced in the 2016 Union Rail Budget that the project shall leverage the existing Right of Way of Indian Railways, travelling through Ahmedabad, by modernising and integrating existing facilities. Two corridors have been planned for Ahmedabad Suburban Railway: Corridor 1 with proposed stoppages at Barejadi-Ahmedabad Junction-Kalol (43.49 km) with stops at Geratpur, Vatva, Maninagar, Sabarmati, Chandkheda, Khodiyar, and Saij Sertha Road and Corridor 2 with stoppages at Ahmedabad Junction-Naroda (9.47 km) with stops at Asarva, Ahmedabad Airport, Saijpur and Sardargram.
As a result of the IPTS (Integrated Public Transport System) study for Ahmedabad City initiated by the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) to identify solutions for the city’s Urban Transport problem, the GIDB initiated the preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Regional Rail System for Ahmedabad through Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and RITES in 2003. The goal is to encourage people to stay in Ahmedabad’s satellite townships by ensuring that they can get to work through a suburban rail-based transportation system. The project plans to use the existing railway facilities to create separate tracks and suburban train stations at 1.5-2 kms with an operating frequency of one train every 10 minutes during peak hours. The following railway assets are intended to be upgraded as part of the Regional Rail System:
Corridor 1: Barejadi – Ahmedabad Jn – Kalol Jn (43.49 Km)
Corridor 2: Ahmedabad Jn – Naroda (9.47 Km)
Summary
DMRC submitted the DPR in October 2005. Following the detailed project report, the Ministry of Railways initiated the discussions for the project’s realisation through public-private partnerships (PPP). The DPR was revalidated and submitted by RITES in 2009, as per the Railway Board’s recommendation. Pursuant to the government’s decision, the viability of connecting more small towns to the Regional Rail System is being investigated and under study. The following are the extended corridors with a total length of 288 kilometres:
- Kalol – Kadi (20 Kms)
- Kadi – Katosan Road (18 Kms)
- Katosan Road – Viramgam (38 Kms)
- Ahmedabad Jn. – Sanand (29 Kms)
- Sanand – Viramgam (36 Kms)
- Kalol – Mehsana (42 Kms)
- Naroda – Prantij (57 Kms)
- Barejadi – Mehmedabad (12 Kms)
- Mehmedabad – Anand (36 Kms)
Current Status
A discussion with the Ministry of Railways for the formation of SPV is under process.
