PM Modi to lay the foundation stone for Nagpur broad gauge metro

NAGPUR (Metro Rail News): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting poll-bound Maharashtra on September 7 to inaugurate a few projects.

A party official said on September 1, he will land in Mumbai on the morning of September 7 before heading to Aurangabad in the afternoon and then to Nagpur on the same day. The details of the PM’s visits are yet to be out.

Meanwhile, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said in Nagpur that the prime minister will perform the ground-breaking ceremony of a metro coach manufacturing facility located in Sindi dry port on September 7 evening.

Gadkari said while addressing a program that the prime minister will also lay the foundation stone for a broad gauge metro connecting Vidarbha’s largest city with adjoining Wardha, Narkhed, Ramtek, and Bhandara.

Both the projects are being undertaken by Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited, popularly known as Maha Metro, a 50:50 joint venture between the Union and Maharashtra governments.

Meanwhile, BJP national president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday began his two-day visit of Maharashtra.

He addressed a rally in Solapur on September 1 night.

During his visit to Mumbai on Monday, Shah is expected to visit some prominent Ganpati mandals, and hold discussions with senior party functionaries.

With the state Assembly polls expected in October, such visits are likely to be the staple as the BJP, along with ally Shiv Sena, look to decimate the opposition Congress-NCP to capture another term, said office-bearers.

Hyderabad airport metro soon to have an underground section

HYDERABAD (Metro Rail News): The proposed high-speed metro rail to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad from Raidurg/Mindspace junction will be essentially an elevated one but will also have a 2.5-km underground section to connect to the airport terminal.

According to Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy, Hyderabad Airport Metro Rail (HAML), the government’s special purpose vehicle formed to build the 31-km ‘Airport Express Metro Corridor’ with 27-km elevated and another 1 km on ground, is looking at ‘innovative financing model’ to make the project financially viable.

The project estimated to cost up to ₹ 5,000 crores is awaiting the government’s nod to call for financial and technical bids. It will essentially be a government-funded and owned metro unlike the ongoing Hyderabad Metro Rail project, which is under the public, private, partnership (PPP) model, with L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad building and maintaining the phase one.

He explained, that the private sector will be involved extensively for optimizing of costs for Airport Metro. “We have the option of seeking the Central government’s financial assistance available for up to 10% of the total cost which will come with its own rules and regulations or we can take up the entire work on our own.

Lighting at Delhi metro stations to be upgraded

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has taken the initiative to upgrade the lighting system of all the 126 metro stations of Phase I and Phase II from the conventional lights to a modern LED lighting system.

Notably, there have been several complaints about the dark spots around the Metro stations with cases of snatching, sexual harassment, and flashings being reported frequently. 

The metro corporation had extensively used LED lighting at Phase-III stations from its inception for conserving energy and also promoting renewable energy.  

“All stations of Phase-I & II (145) were provided with conventional fluorescent lighting at the time of their commissioning. However, the existing lighting system is getting replaced with the advent of the modern-day LED lighting concept.

DMRC is now planning to cover the stations of Phase-I & II (around 126) with the same LED type of lighting.

The tendering process will take around six months time and thereafter, it is expected to cover all these stations in a year’s time,” said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation spokesperson. 

Currently, work is under progress to switch to LED lighting at 10 elevated Metro stations of the Red Line, which is likely to be completed in next 2-3 months, he added. 

The Delhi Metro undertook the exercise of changing the lighting fixtures from conventional to modern as a pilot project at two underground Metro stations of Rajiv Chowk and Barakhamba Road. 

“Based on the feedback at these two stations, the same was introduced at seven other Underground Metro stations of Yellow Line recently — Kashmere Gate (UG), Chandni Chowk, Chawri Bazar, Patel Chowk, Mandi House, Vishwavidyalaya and New Delhi,” the spokesperson said.  

Soon, Kashmir to have Metro rail in Srinagar

SRINAGAR (Metro Rail News): Jammu and Kashmir administration is all set to launch Srinagar Metro. A detailed project report for the same has been prepared and construction work is slated to begin from 2020.

The 25-kilometer-long Metro line will be built in two phases and divided into two corridors namely Corridor 1 and 2. A total of 12 stations will be built in each corridor with the total stations in the line being 24. Reportedly, the cost of the project will be five thousand crore rupees. Senior Civil Engineer and retired Indian Railways Service of Engineers (IRSE) popularly known as ‘Metro Man‘ has been made the head of the project.

Speaking to the correspondent, Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar, Dr. Shahid Choudhary said, “We are preparing the future of Srinagar. In the coming days, the population of Srinagar will increase, for which the Metro is needed.” “We will start the operation of the Metro train in Srinagar by 2024. Each kilometer of this Metro project will create jobs for 25 youths. The process of bidding will start very soon,” added Choudhary.

The new technologies of the token and smart card will be used for the completely elevated Metro line. The three-coach Metro will start first. About 250 people will be able to travel together in a compartment, i.e. 750 people can travel together on a Metro train. In summer, the Srinagar Metro will run for 17 hours, then in winter, this Metro will run for 14 hours. Mini feeder buses will also run from outside each station. Around 35 mini feeder bus services will run in Srinagar.

There will also be special attention on the security system of Srinagar Metro, CCTV, Bag Scanner, Bomb Detection Equipment, wireless sets, sniffer dogs will be available at every Metro station.

Metro lines cover only 3% of Gurugram

GURUGRAM (Metro Rail News): Major cities in the country are fast expanding their metro network, but poor urban planning and the lack of a mobility framework has held it up in Gurugram.

As a result, the city where lakhs of people come to work finds itself not only far behind Delhi in terms of metro’s reach but also Noida, which now has multiple connections with the capital and a direct line to the domestic airport.

The last time Gurugram saw an inter-city metro connection being built was in 2010 when the Yellow Line made the difficult trek across rocky Aravali terrain to Huda City Centre, taking its terminal station 15km further south from Qutub Minar.

It was a feat of engineering that bridged two cities, which would enter a phase of rapid symbiotic growth: Delhi as the political power center, Gurugram as an emerging corporate hub.
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Gurugram’s growth has, over these years, been swift, staggering even government planners, who struggled to fortify the city with the additional resources it needed even as its human capital grew organically with the local economy, turning Delhi’s satellite city into a metropolis with the country’s third-highest per capita income.

But inter-city metro connectivity remains today exactly where it was in 2010, resulting in the development of an urban ecosystem that’s highly dependent on cars and a pollution problem that the city just cannot tame. Just a year before the Yellow Line came to Gurugram, the Blue Line had in 2009 made the journey to Noida. A decade on, the Uttar Pradesh city has raced far ahead of Gurugram in metro connectivity — Noida now has 34 metro stations with multiple connections to Delhi, a link that’s at the doorstep of Ghaziabad, and a direct line to IGI airport’s domestic terminal.

Gurugram, over these years, has only seen the private Rapid Metro network of 15 stations being built. The government has strangely not expanded the metro network an inch despite two demands that residents and corporate houses have been making for years — connections to IGI airport and Dwarka. Gurugram’s total metro coverage area is a mere 20km, which is only around 3% of the city’s total area.

Yet, the previous decade has been one of the big metro push, not just in Delhi whose network now has 250 stations, but across India, with large metro networks now operational in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai and smaller ones in Kochi and Lucknow. Elsewhere in the country— in Kolkata — the metro is all set to run under a river. Across major Indian cities, metro tracks now cover 640km across 450 stations.

CM to inaugurate Kochi Metro service extended to Thaikkudam on 3rd September

KOCHI (Metro Rail News): Inauguration of Kochi Metro extension to Thaikkudam is decided to be held on September 3.

Services for the public will commence from 4th September. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the extended service on Tuesday at about 11 am in an indoor stadium, Kadavanthra. Hardeep Singh Puri, union minister for Housing and Urban Affairs will preside over the function.

Security inspections by the commissioner of Metro Rail Safety will begin on Friday. Services can commence only with the approval of the safety certificate.

Along with the event, the inauguration of construction of water metro terminal will take place on Tuesday. Piling works for the metro extension from Petta to Thrippunithura SN Junction will also begin on the same day.

As part of the inauguration, Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has announced free parking for passengers at all metro stations from Friday till September 25, 2019.


Gorakhpur Metro to have two corridors, 27 stations

GORAKHPUR (Metro Rail News): ) On Thursday, the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) surveyed metro routes in the city and took note of the difficulties being faced in metro construction, officials said.

Its commissioner and the Gorakhpur Development Authority (GDA) vice-chairman also held a meeting on the issues.

LMRC Director Kumar Keshav and Chief Engineer Ravi Jain visited the metro route with PWD engineers. The Housing and Urban Planning Department chief secretary will inspect the metro route in Gorakhpur on Friday.

The officials inspected the routes from Mohaddipur to the railway station, Gorakhnath temple gate to Bargadwa and Shyam Nagar, Gulriha to Transport Nagar via Asurn.

Keshav told reporters “It is proposed that the metro will run in Gorakhpur on pillars with 2 meters width and the proposed distance between the pillars is 27 meters. It will be difficult to construct pillars on a four-lane road.” Engineers will try to find an alternative so that metro pillars can be made without any hindrance along with the four-lane road’s construction.

A four-lane road is under construction on the metro route between Shyam Nagar and Divyanagar and construction have been completed between Mohaddipur and Gurung Tiraha. Construction for the road is underway between Gurung Tiraha and Suba Bazar.

The construction of the proposed ₹4,100 crore metro project will begin in the city after the Centre’s approval and there will be two corridors and 27 stations on metro route.

Maha-Metro likely to recommend the underground route

MAHARASHTRA (Metro Rail News): The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (Maha-Metro) is likely to recommend an underground route for the stretch between Swargate and Katraj.

 “The detailed project report is nearing completion of the Metro route from Swargate to Katraj. It will be submitted to the Pune Municipal Corporation for approval,” said Brijesh Dixit, managing director of Maha-Metro.

Maha-Metro is the agency in charge of implementing the Pune Metro project and it has already started work on the Pimpri-Swargate and Ramwadi-Vanaz routes. The PMC had urged Maha-Metro to extend the route from Swargate to Katraj.

However, there was a lot of discussion over the route as the construction of an elevated track was not possible due to the number of flyovers on the Satara Road stretch.

While the Maha-Metro considered constructing an underground route, financial feasibility of the project was a source of concern since each km of the route would involve an expenditure of Rs 500 crore. Now, Maha-Metro has decided that even if the cost of building a 6-km underground route is at least Rs 3,000 crore, it would be feasible given the number of passengers on the route, which passes through crowded localities.

The PMC will now have to ensure funding for the rail route and the civic body will discuss the proposal before it gets the final go-ahead.

Tree Authority Allows Cutting Of 2700 Trees For Mumbai Metro Car Shed

MUMBAI (Metro Rail News): The Tree Authority of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday gave its nod to cut over 2,700 trees for a Metro car shed in the leafy Aarey Colony area in Mumbai.

The proposal was cleared at the authority’s meeting, chaired by municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi, though members from the Shiv Sena opposed it.

A senior civic official said Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL), which is constructing the Metro, put up the proposal to cut 2,232 trees and promised to compensate by planting three times as many trees elsewhere in the city.

“MMRCL also sought permission to remove and re-transplant another 469 trees,” the official said, adding that before giving the approval, the members of the authority had inspected the site.

BJP member Manoj Kotak, also the group leader in the civic house, backed the proposal.

“Metro is extremely essential for the city and it is everybody’s duty to support infrastructure-related work. In fact, Metro will not only save fuel but will also protect the environment,” Mr.
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Kotak told.

Tree authority member and NCP corporator Kaptan Malik said he supported the decision to facilitate infrastructure development.

Shiv Sena youth wing leader Aaditya Thackeray, however, alleged that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had been “misled” on the issue.

“The metro is a good thing, I use the existing one and will use the new one too. However, whoever planned this green chopping in Mumbai, obviously has no love for our future generations or our city. Has misled the chief minister on its environmental assessment report for Aarey,” Mr. Thackeray tweeted.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said it was a “betrayal” of the trust reposed by Mumbai citizens in the civic authorities.

“We urge Mumbaikars to vote out the parties which are responsible for this decision in assembly elections. We will take this up in the polls,” said Ruben Mascarenhas, national Joint Secretary of AAP.

“Both the chief minister and civic chief have admitted that the flooding of Mumbai is a result of climate change. Sadly, government authorities don’t understand the relation between trees and global warming. 33 hectors of the crashed area in Aarey has thousands of indigenous trees, species and also the floodplain of Mithi River,” said Amrita Bhattacharjee, who has launched campaign to save the trees in Aarey colony area.

‘Aqua, purple lines proposed names for Pune Metro routes’

MUMBAI (Metro Rail News): The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha-Metro) has proposed the names ‘Aqua line’ for the Vanaz-Ramwadi metro corridor and ‘Purple line’ for the Pimpri-Chincwad to Swargate corridor.

Brijesh Dixit, managing director, Maha-Metro, said, “We have proposed these two names for the metro corridors. As Vanaz to Ramwadi metro corridor is passing through the Mula-Mutha riverbed, we have suggested the name ‘aqua line’. Purple color represents happiness. So considering this, the name ‘Purple line’ has been proposed for Pimpri-Chincwad to Swargate corridor.

“It is a norm that various metro lines have to be given names on the basis of color. This will help the commuters identify their metro trains. We hope to complete the work of the priority sections by December,” added Dixit.

Voltas receives orders for Mumbai Metro Line 3

MUMBAI (Metro Rail News): Voltas has received an order for tunnel ventilation systems for the Mumbai Metro 3 project post winning the bid.

HVAC solutions include tunnel ventilation for metros and underground stations. Under this business segment, the company has received Letter of Award (LOA) from Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) for Environmental Control System (ECS) and Tunnel Ventilation System (TVS) works for Phase 2, Lot 2 Package of 8 out of total 27 stations, i.e. from Cuffe Parade to Grant Road station and tunnel up to Mumbai Central station.

The total value of the packages being over Rs. 800 crores are divided into 3 packages and Voltas has received LOA for 1 package with an approximate value of Rs. 233 crore. Being a long duration project, the revenues and profits from this project will be delivered at a slow pace.

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Delhi metro’s Yellow Line metro services hit

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): In the morning today several commuters faced inconvenience after services were briefly affected on a section of Delhi Metro’s Yellow Line.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tweeted about the slow movement of trains between Rajiv Chowk and Qutub Minar. However, after a few hours, normal services were resumed on the route.

DMRC tweeted “Normal services have resumed. We regret the inconvenience,”.

The Yellow Line is one of the busiest lines in the Delhi Metro network, ferrying thousands of passengers from Delhi to neighboring Gurgaon in Haryana.

The route measures almost 49 km and has a total of 37 stations. It connects Samaypur Badli in North Delhi to HUDA City Centre in Gurugram. The stretch connects prominent areas such as Delhi University, New Delhi and Old Delhi railway stations, Connaught Place, INA Market, AIIMS and Hauz Khas to name a few.

Maharashtra Govt. approve Nashik’s Metro Neo Project

Nashik (Metro Rail News): Maharashtra cabinet on August 28, 2019, has approved Nashik’s first-of-its-kind Mass Rapid Transit System “Metro Neo” Which will not run on metal tyres (technically known as rails), but instead have rubber tyres. It help in better connectivity across the city. Like all lines, the corridor will be elevated. The Metro’s swanky coaches will operate on electricity and battery and ply on elevated viaducts with state-of-the-art terminals.

The project will be executed at an estimated cost of ₹2,100 crore and will be jointly implemented by Maha Metro, City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) said Mr. Brijesh Dixit, managing director, Maha Metro. The cabinet approved two corridors Shramik Road to Nashik Road, which is 18.45km long, and a 9.45km-long Gangapur to Mumbai Naka corridor in Nashik.

Nashik MetroNEO Map
Nashik’s Metro Neo Project Corridor Route Map

According to Dixit, the “unique” Metro in Nashik is the first in the world where electricity-run coaches will be plying under the mass transport system. He said the concept was designed to make the project “financially viable” in the tier-II city. “This has not been done anywhere. The coaches of Metro Neo will have the comfort of the Metro coaches, but will run on tyres and not rails. We had to come up with a new model to make it financially viable,” Dixit told HT. The Metro will have a capacity of carrying 8,000 commuters during peak hours.

Ramanathan Subramanium, executive director of Maha Metro, said the coaches will run on overhead electrical cables (OHEs). “The elevated structures will have basic infrastructure like bus stops. The routes are planned in a way that it will connect important locations including railway stations, MIDC, etc. As the coaches will run on tyres, it will come down through a ramp, and operate around the city too as a feeder route,” he said.

Metro Neo Explained Video

The system could be upgraded to light rail transit (LRT) system subsequently, when the ridership goes up. “We can put rails on the viaduct and get new brakes to run on it,” Dixit said

Underground Metro ideal, but not viable

MUMBAI (Metro Rail News): Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation’s (MMRC) managing director, Ashwini Bhide, said underground Metros were ideal but could not be executed in the city due to several, particularly financial, constraints.

She said, “The ideal situation could be that all Metro lines are underground. But for a country and a city like ours, where we have a huge resource crunch, we have tried to find a solution.”

She said she was not the most competent person to explain the decision to build elevated Metro corridors, but said the city’s geographical makeup put a lot of restrictions on planning public transport projects.

Ms. Bhide, who was addressing citizens at the V-Citizens Action Network event in Colaba, answered a series of questions regarding Metro 3, which is being built from Colaba to SEEPZ, including the contentious issue of a car shed proposed to be built in Aarey Colony.

The car shed has been opposed by citizens and environmental groups as it involves axing 2,702 trees.

Recently, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Tree Authority too stalled the proposal for cutting trees after it received 82,000 objections from citizens.

Several citizens questioned the need to have it in Aarey Colony and asked why the yard was not possible in a site in Kanjurmarg, which is being proposed for the yard of Metro Line 6. “That land was not made available because there are private claims on it, litigation is on since 1996,” she said.

The land was still not available with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, which was looking for other options for Metro Line 6, she said. “Moreover, the land is 10 km away from our last stop. So it would have meant extending the corridor by 10 km and revising the whole design, financial closure, getting new approvals. We were still willing to do it provided the land at Kanjurmarg was available at the time,” she said.

She said the MMRC was “seriously concerned” regarding the Aarey issue as the first set of trains were expected to arrive by November 2020. If the depot is not ready by then, they would have no place to keep the trains.