Metro Rail News Online

New Delhi: The Ministry of Urban Development, on Monday, announced it has informed the Fare Fixation Committee for recommending revised fares of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). DMRC fares were last revised in 2009, despite repeated requests by the company for relief in the wake of rising electricity charges and other costs. “Set up under sections 33 and 34 of the Metro Railway (Operations and Maintenance) Act 2002, the committee has been given three months time from the date of assumption of charge by the Chairperson of the committee Justice M L Mehta for submission of its report and recommendations to DMRC,” says a statement by the ministry. DMRC has reportedly been reeling under financial crunch owing to non-revision of fares for the past many years. The operator of Metro trains in the national capital had been pressing the government to set up the FFC (Fare Fixation Committee). DMRC fares were last revised in 2009. The committee is responsible for recommending passenger fares f

Meerut: City residents’ dream to have a Metro is all set to come true. Divisional commissioner Alok Sinha cleared the final detailed project report (DPR) for the Meerut Metro project in a meeting on Friday. The proposal will be sent to the state government in July and construction is likely to begin by March 2017. Both corridors will have a combined total of 29 metro stations. The total cost of the Meerut Metro project is Rs 11,450 crore. “Apart from convenience, the Meerut Metro will also provide new employment opportunities for thousands of city residents. It will also boost tourism and industry in the city. By July, the state government will most likely give its nod to the project and construction will begin by March 2017. The work will be completed by 2022,” the commissioner added. Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) general manager Piyush Kansal said, “Corridor I (Partapur-Modipuram) will be 19.7 km in length. In this corridor, 11.6 km will be elevated and 7.2 km wil

Meerut: City residents’ dream to have a Metro is all set to come true. Divisional commissioner Alok Sinha cleared the final detailed project report (DPR) for the Meerut Metro project in a meeting on Friday. The proposal will be sent to the state government in July and construction is likely to begin by March 2017. Both corridors will have a combined total of 29 metro stations. The total cost of the Meerut Metro project is Rs 11,450 crore. “Apart from convenience, the Meerut Metro will also provide new employment opportunities for thousands of city residents. It will also boost tourism and industry in the city. By July, the state government will most likely give its nod to the project and construction will begin by March 2017. The work will be completed by 2022,” the commissioner added. Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) general manager Piyush Kansal said, “Corridor I (Partapur-Modipuram) will be 19.7 km in length. In this corridor, 11.6 km will be elevated and 7.2 km wil

New Delhi: Traffic on the Ring Road towards Mathura Road (along the Ashram flyover) and Bhogal (below Ashram flyover) from the DND expressway side has been diverted since this morning as a precautionary measure after a gantry crane functioning at the under construction Ashram Metro station was dislocated last night due to the heavy storm and wind. The gantry will be dismantled with the help of specialised equipments. All vehicles desirous of going towards Mathura Road or Bhogal from the DND expressway side will have to take the Ashram flyover and then take an u-turn from below the Sriniwaspuri flyover. Small vehicles going towards Mathura Road can also do so via New Friends colony. Adequate traffic marshals and temporary signage have been put up at all crucial intersections to inform the motorists. Delhi Metro | Traffic Advisory to General Public and Vehicle Drivers

New Delhi: The Centre has approved a plan for a metro service in the Prime Minister’s constituency of Varanasi – estimated to cost Rs 12,350 crore – by extending ‘provisions of the Metro Railways Act to the city . This follows a letter from the Akhilesh Yadav government to Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu last month asking for the official notification to be issued for metro rail projects in Varanasi and Kanpur because the state plans to commence construction in December. The Centre, in consultation with the Uttar Pradesh government, has now extended the provisions of the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, to the metropolitan areas of Varanasi and Kanpur, paving the way for construction to start as per the detailed project reports prepared. “Ahead of the 2017 UP elections, the Varanasi metro could be a positive issue both for the Centre, given it is the PM’s constituency, as well as the Samajwadi Party, which could showcase its development projects by way of a

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has taken exception to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) use of groundwater for washing of metro trains and directed it to submit details of the permission granted to it for extraction of groundwater. A bench, comprising Justice UD Salvi and expert-member Ranjan Chatterjee, which had earlier issued notices to DMRC, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee, also sought details regarding the use of groundwater by Delhi Metro. “Respondent No 1 (DMRC) should come out with a clear stand as to the permission regarding extraction of groundwater, its use made and the duration of its use”, the bench said. The order came while hearing a plea filed by Delhi resident Kush Kalra who had alleged that DMRC was extracting groundwater instead of using wastewater to wash its trains resulting in depletion of water table. Advocate Kush Sharma, appearing for Kalra, said that at a time when water crisis has hit 12,000 villages across Latur in Mah

Bangalore: Bangalore also called the Silicon Valley of India, is a major tech-hub of the country and attracts a lot of geeks from around for its booming startup culture. It comes as no surprise that the Government in Karnataka is promoting startups to such an extent that spaces at metro station will soon be rented to budding entrepreneurs for their ventures. In a report by Media, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation is planning to send out notification to startups for renting space at large metro stations in the city. Bangalore’s metro service is still under construction and only recently a small patch of 4.8kms underground was made open to the public for transportation. There have been certain roadblocks on the way preventing the metro to expand as quickly as planned. Owing to low ridership in the beginning, the plan had taken a backseat, but with the new stations opened recently, the metro officials have come out with the idea of staging startups at the stations to utilize the whole

New Delhi: The trial run of Delhi Metro’s new ‘driverless’ trains began today, setting the ball rolling on what promises to be a technological feat in the country’s public transport system in little more than a year, when they will run on ‘unattended’ mode. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu flagged off one train equipped to travel on ‘Unattended Train Operations’ mode at the Mukundpur depot of metro’s upcoming Majlis Park – Shiv Vihar corridor. In their speeches, Mr Naidu and Mr Kejriwal insisted that metro was one of the best answers to the city’s commutation and pollution woes. Mr Kejriwal thanked the Centre and termed Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as a ‘unique example’ of cooperative federalism. Mr Naidu said that odd-even was a temporary measure and “cannot be a permanent solution” and said new technology was set to increase metro’s frequency to 90 seconds. “As we kept on saying during odd-even, till the time we don’t imp

New Delhi: The Delhi Metro has a network of cross passages in their underground sections which connect the two parallel underground tunnels. Two Metro tunnels are generally built parallel to each other for up and down movement of trains and these cross passages allow people to move from one tunnel to the other on foot in case of any emergency like fire or any other unusual occurrence in either of the tunnels. These walkways can be used for carrying out maintenance work also. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is constructing over 100 such cross passages between tunnels in the underground sections of the upcoming Phase 3. A cross passage is generally a small path between two tunnels connected through a walkway varying between 6- 10 mtrs. There will be a cross passage after approximately every 240 mtrs inside every underground tunnel. Cross-passages (CP) are built with reinforced concrete. They are provided to serve two primary purposes: emergency escape and maintenance work. In the

Mumbai: A Consortium of Datamatics Global Services Limited (DGSL) and Mikroelektronika have won the contract to provide Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system for the North –South corridor (Phase 1A) of the Lucknow Metro Rail Project. The contract has been awarded to the Consortium at approximately Rs 64 crores to execute the automated fare collection systems for this prestigious Metro project of the Government. The contract between the Consortium and Lucknow Metros Rail Corporation (LMRC) was signed on the 3 rd May in the presence of Shri Kumar Keshav, Managing Director – LMRC ; Shri Rahul Kanodia, Vice Chairman & CEO – DGSL; Shri Jindrich Nadvornik, CEO – Mikroelektronika and other top officials from LMRC, DGSL and Mikroelektronika. On the occasion, Shri Kumar Keshav, Managing Director – LMRC, said “This signing of contract for providing the Automatic Fare Collection System for Lucknow Metro has now taken us much closer towards implementation of system contracts”. “Lucknow Me

New Delhi: In what looks like a case of religious discrimination, a Muslim girl was denied entry into the Delhi Metro while wearing a Hijab, for ‘security reasons’. The complainant, Humera Khan, a student in Delhi who regularly wears the Hijab was at the Mayur Vihar Station on May 6 and shared the details of the incident via Facebook. Humera said she was asked to remove her Hijab during the security check. After she had complied with the instructions, she decided to put her Hijab back on, when the security lady told her “Iske sath aap board nahi kar sakte madam”. “I asked her (Security lady) to call a senior person to whom I can talk. A man who looked much authoritative came, I said,” Sir you can check my student id, here is my address I have been travelling in metro from past 2 years and I was never stopped at any station. Just tell me the reason and I would not bother you much.” That person in a very harsh tone asked me to either leave or remove the hijab without giving any apt reaso

Noida: Former Ghaziabad Development Authority vice chairman Santosh Yadav has recently taken over as the managing director of Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), the post which till now was held by Noida Authority chairperson Rama Raman. In a conversation with Media, he talks about plans to expedite work on the 30-km Noida to Greater Noida Expressway Metro link, environment friendly steps taken by NMRC and other issues. You have reviewed the progress of the 30-km Noida-Greater Noida Metro link currently under construction. When is it expected to be operational? Will the entire stretch be ready at one go? The progress has been reviewed by me and I am sure that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation shall meet the deadline of the project, i.e. March 2018 as per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between DMRC and Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC). We are trying to achieve the target of December 2017 since civil works are progressing satisfactorily. The most critical part of the Met

Lucknow: Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) today unveiled the two dimensional (2D) design and the three dimensional (3D) mock-up of Lucknow Metro Train to Shri Akhilesh Yadav, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh. Shri Alok Ranjan, Chief Secretary, GoUP,  Shri  Kumar Keshav, Managing Director, LMRC, Shri Bharat Salhotra, Managing Director, Alstom India and other top level dignitaries were also present on the occasion. Shri Kumar Keshav explained the detailed process involved in the design of ultra-modern train cars for Lucknow Metro project to the visiting dignitaries including various features provided for comfort and convenience of commuters and safety including facilities for differently abled passengers. The design of Lucknow Metro train is a tribute to the city’s cultural richness. The front of the metro has been conceived in the spirit of some of the city’s most important monuments’ such as Bara-Imambara, the Asifi Masjid and the Roomi Gate. It’s exterior livery in golden co

New Delhi: Metro rail companies, being built with Central government equity across the country, have been asked to speed up appointment of independent directors and promote efficiency in hiring manpower. This was conveyed by Urban Development Secretary Rajiv Gauba here today during a review of progress of various metro projects and issues related to their functioning. Senior officials of the ministry, besides chief executives of Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kochi metros attended the meeting. Issues ranging from appointment of independent directors and chief vigilance officers, standardisation of equipment, bulk procurement, fare-fixation, performance-based promotions, competitive bidding and security were discussed during the two-hour long review exercise, an official statement said. A proposal for appointing a common regulator for all metro projects for fare-fixation was also discussed and it was decided that the views of respective states would be appropriat

New Delhi: The Central Advisory Contract Labour Board has urged the Ministry of Labour and Employment to abolish contractual labour in ticketing jobs at Delhi Metro and make the posts permanent. If the ministry accepts this recommendation, it will benefit nearly 3,500 contractual workers. The advisory board constituted a committee to look into the issue and passed its recommendations to the ministry last month. Based on the findings of the committee, it decided to “recommend for abolition of the contract labour system in the jobs of TOM (token operating metro) operators in the establishment of DMRC”. After several inspections, the committee found there was a phenomenal rise in the number of ticket operators over the years and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was justifying the employment on a short-term contractual basis by promising that it was working towards reducing dependence on manual ticketing and mechanising the process completely. “It is evident the semi-automated system of

New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) today celebrated its 22nd foundation day with annual awards being presented to 43 deserving employees for their outstanding contribution to the Delhi Metro along with three special prizes.   Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Dr. Arvind Panagariya presented the awards in the presence of Chief Secretary, Government of NCT of Delhi Sh. Kewal Kumar Sharma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Sh. DS Mishra, DMRC’s Managing Director, Dr. Mangu Singh and other senior officials.   Dr. Panagariya appreciated the performance of the Delhi Metro and said, “it is absolutely astonishing how within a span of 15 years or so, the Delhi Metro has come from zero to over 200 kilometres. The Metro is clean, bright and the trains run on time. It is an island of excellence.”   “The standards set by DMRC in designing structures is very high and such standards should be followed by other engineering organisations,” Chief Secretary, Government of NCT

New Delhi: Come July and Delhiites will be able to travel on metro trains, DTC and cluster buses using a ‘Common Mobility Card’, with the city government deciding to launch the project for seamless travel on modes of public transport. The Delhi government is finalising the modalities of the project which will be launched in a phased manner in the national capital. “We will launch ‘Common Mobility Card’ project in July this year through which passengers can travel in Metro trains, DTC buses and cluster buses (orange) run by DIMTS. The project will be launched on a trial-basis in Delhi,” Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai told Media. The Minister said by the end of June, fares will be charged in all DTC buses and Cluster buses through e-ticketing machines (ETM) and thereafter government will move towards the launch of ‘Common Mobility Card’. “We are currently in talks with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for finalising a revenue sharing model. In July, commuterss can travel in me