Metro Rail News Online

Lucknow: The Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) has decided to set up sale counters for selling “ GOSMART CARDS ” before inaugural ceremony on 1 st  & 4 th  September, 2017 for the convenience of the general public. People can purchase these GoSmart Cards between  10.00 AM to 5 PM  from the following locations:- Lucknow Metro Office, Administrative Building, Vipin Khand Gomti Nagar, Lucknow Transport Nagar Metro Station, Near G to C lift at Ground Level, Charbagh Metro Station, Outside the shutter at Ground Level, HDFC Bank Ltd, Naka Hindola Branch, Hotel Dayal Building, 76/13 Gurudwara Road, PS Naka Hindola Lucknow, HDFC Bank Ltd, Ground Floor, 56 & 57 Chander Nagar, Alambagh, Lucknow According to LMRC press release, only ‘GoSmart’ cards will be available at the above places. The Metro commuters can purchase token and tourist card from all Metro stations from the revenue operation date for public i.e. from 6 th  Septe...

Mumbai: The Executive Committee of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), headed by Mr. Sumit Mullick, Chairman, Executive Committee, MMRDA and Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra on 28 August 2017, appointed General Consultants for the Wadala-Ghatkopar-Mulund-Thane-Kasarvadavali Metro-4 corridor and also approved road projects in BKC and MMR. The Executive Committee appointed the consortium of M/s. DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH with Hill International Inc. and Louis Berger Consulting Co. Ltd. as General Consultants for the Wadala-Kasarvadavali Metro-4 corridor. The scope of work for the Consultants includes Design, assistance in procurement, construction management, supervision, system integration, interface management, testing and commissioning of the entire corridor among other various responsibilities. The Committee appointed M/s. Niraj Cement Structurals Ltd. to construct the 2.2-km long elevate...

Greater Noida: The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) is planning to revive the proposed high-speed Metro project linking Greater Noida and the sanctioned international airport at Jewar. The proposal is likely to be approved by the YEIDA board in a meeting to be held on September 4. YEIDA had first proposed the Metro corridor in February 2014, and again in June 2015. In June 2016, DMRC had told the civic body that it was too early to prepare a feasibility report for the proposed corridor, and had suggested that it be done after five years. YEIDA officials, however, said the Authority has again decided to revive the project in order to provide connectivity to the urbanising area, and will ask DMRC to prepare a detailed project report for the project. "The proposed 39-km Metro track will be aligned at road level along the Yamuna expressway. It will link the zero point of the Yamuna expressway in Greater Noida to the Jewar airport . This track wi...

Haridwar: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has started surveying for the 70-km metro line between Haridwar and Dehradun on Tuesday. A team of engineers visited Haridwar and started work for geotechnical investigation and surveyed different sites in the city for the first phase of the project from Haridwar to Rishikesh (30 km). The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was inked between the state Urban Housing Development Authority (UUHDA) and the DMRC during the previous Harish Rawat-led Congress government. UUHDA’s secretary Meenakshi Sundram and director (business production), DMRC, S D Sharma had signed the pact for the project in 2016. The project is slated to be completed by 2021 and will cover around 70 km. The project will also connect Rishikesh and the state government is trying to complete the project before the ‘Mahakumbh’ mela in 2021. “A team of DMRC engineers visited Haridwar last month for conducting survey and several points were marked by the ...

Lucknow: The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) – one of the apex body in India to rate and certify a system as a ‘Green’ system – has certified LMRC a “Green Metro Rail System”, thereby, awarding platinum certificate to all its eight Metro stations on the ‘Priority Corridor’ from Transport Nagar to Charbagh which is due for public inauguration very soon. Today, Platinum certificates and plaques for 8 stations of the priority corridor was handed over to Shri Kumar Keshav ,Managing Director by Mr. S. Raghupathy, Deputy Director General, CII- IGBC  at the LMRC  Administrative Office , Gomti Nagar. This is highest green rating for any civil structure or building which has been awarded to LMRC. It is yet another major milestone that has been achieved by LMRC. It is worth mentioning here that Lucknow Metro has been certified a ‘Green Metro Rail’ much before the start of its commercial services. Shri Kumar Keshav ex...

USA: A Fluor-led joint venture (JV) team has started construction of the $5.6bn Purple Line Light Rail project in Maryland, US. The Purple Line Transit Partners JV team consists of Fluor, Meridiam Infrastructure Purple Line and Star America Purple Line. The construction project is being carried out on behalf of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), and began with a groundbreaking ceremony. Fluor infrastructure business line president Hans Dekker said: “Fluor is honoured to break ground today on the second transit public-private partnership project in the US. “We bring robust megaproject experience and industry-leading abilities to successfully design, build, finance and manage complex projects.” The US Federal Transit Administration is granting $900m from its capital investment grant programme to facilitate the construction of the project. The 16-mile line is situated within the Washington Me...

New Delhi: An advanced signalling system which will run in sync with the platform screen doors and help reduce frequency and increase safety standards has delayed the opening of new lines on phase 3 of Delhi Metro . Slated to open by March 2017, the Botanical Garden and Kalkaji Mandir section of the Botanical Garden-Janakpuri West line will now be launched ahead of Diwali on October 19, 2017. Trial runs between Botanical Garden and Kalkaji Mandir had started on October 27, 2016 last year but testing of the new signalling system led to delay despite the construction work being completed by May. Mangu Singh, chief of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), called the delay a ‘setback’ but he was confident of making the section operational by October. “We really had a little setback as last year we started trial runs. We were anticipating it but the new signalling system has taken more time than anticipated. We were expecting this line to be operational by March, so there ...

Ahmadabad: The groundbreaking ceremony for the ambitious Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project, commonly referred to as the bullet train project, will be performed in Ahmedabad on 14 September by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, officials said on Wednesday. The groundbreaking ceremony (bhoomi-pujan) for the project, coming up at an estimated cost of Rs98,000 crore, will be held at a ground near the Sabarmati railway station in the city, said a senior government official. Both the leaders are expected to stay in Ahmedabad for three days, starting from 13 September. “Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and our PM would arrive in Gujarat on 13 September afternoon. The next morning, they would attend the groundbreaking ceremony of the high speed rail project at the Sabarmati railway station. Both of them are expected to leave on 15 September morning,” the official said. Apart from this project, various memorandums of understanding (MoUs) related to in...

Dear Readers, It is immense pleasure to inform you that we have published our Metro Rail News August 2017 Edition for them who want to know more about metro rail development in India and the science and technology involved for its faster growth. Highlights of our August Edition is as under:- Chronicle development updates on metro railway projects in the month International updates on Urban Transport All aboard Asia Pacific growth train Complete coverage on FICCI India PPP Summit 2017 What is Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) : IEEE 1474.1 Exclusive interview with Mr. Prabhakar Atla, Sr. Vice President, Rail Transportation (CYIENT) Exclusive interview with Mrs. Sonal Goel, CEO - Faridabad Smart City Ltd. Mumbai - Ahmadabad Bullet Train : All you need to know about the undersea bullet train corridor The Smart City Dream: Why all’s not well in Govt’s Grand Plan The Current Tender Notices in Metro Railways Upcoming Events / Exhibition / Summits on Urba...

Lucknow: Lucknow Metro services will be inaugurated on 5 th  September, 2017 by Shri Rajnath Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of Home Affairs, Government of India and Shri Yogi Adityanath, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh. The public services will, however, be started from 6 th  September, 2017. The Metro train will be flagged-off on the day by the Hon’ble Minister of Home Affairs and the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh and now the dream of the people of Lucknow to have their own world Metro class is coming true. The 8.5 km long ‘Priority Corridor’ from Transport Nagar to Charbagh will be made operational for the public from 6 th  September, 2017. The services will be available from  6 AM to 10 PM  every day. The day will be written in golden letters as Lucknow Metro will be the first Metro project to be executed and made operational for the public in just less than three years. No other Metro has ever been able to ac...

New Delhi: The  Delhi Metro ’s ridership saw a slump in June, a month after a steep fare hike came into effect, according to DMRC records. The average daily ridership of the metro in June was 25.7 lakh. The corresponding period last year, when newer sections were yet to be launched, had seen 27.2 lakh people using the network everyday, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said, replying to an RTI query. The slump in June was observed across all the corridors of the 218-km-long network. The total ridership came down by around 15 lakh and 21 lakh in the Yellow and Blue Lines in June, as compared to the same period the previous year. In April, 27.5 lakh commuters took the metro on an average daily, while the figure came down to around 26.5 lakh in May, when schools are closed due to summer holidays. April and May 2016 had logged an average daily ridership of 26.3 lakh and 26.2 lakh respectively. Since May 10, the new minimum fare is Rs 10, up from Rs 8, while the maximum stands at R...

Bengaluru: Defense Minister Arun Jaitley today launched BEML’s third Line ultra modern metro manufacturing facility to enhance the production of metro cars for the forthcoming metro projects in India. Earlier in the morning, he inaugurated the indigenously designed and developed biggest ever diesel excavator BE1800D and crawler dozer BD475-1 and T-72 hull, meant for fitting into tanks, at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) unit of Bharath Earth Movers Limited. Later, a number of organisations and local leaders including Kolar MP Muniyappa submitted memoranda against disinvestment of BEML . Speaking to reporters, Muniyappa said he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon to convince him against it. BEML had forayed into manufacturing and supply of hi-tech metro cars during 2002 and as a leading rolling stock supplier has so far supplied over 1,000 metro cars to Delhi, Bengaluru and Jaipur Metro Corporations. On March 27, BEML had secured a  Rs.  1,421-crore contract from Bangalor...

Lucknow:  Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation  (LMRC) launched its new website just ahead of its priority section to be made operational for the "Priority Corridor" stretching from Transport Nagar to Charbagh. Kumar Keshav, Managing Director launched the website on August 28. "The new website will serve as an efficient channel of interaction between LMRC and the citizens of Lucknow," Kumar Keshav said while launching the website. "This will increasingly help in setting up a bond that will make Lucknow Metro people"s own Metro," he added. The new website will serve as an interface for citizens and likely commuters to be acquainted with the metro system and get requisite information related to travelling via metro. It will also provide the public with latest updates about metro service and information about LMRC as an organization. It will also educate prospective commuters about hassle free metro travel; get aware with safety guidelines, security features ...

New Delhi: The Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) declared result of online test for Psycho Test under recruitment of Customer Relations Assistants (CRA) and Station Controllers/Train Operators (SC/TO). The vacancies were advertised vide Recruitment Notice No. NMRC/OM/HR/I/2016 by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). Some important information are as under:- Station Controller/Train Operator (SC/TO): Total candidate shortlisted: 1533 Date of documents verification: 30.08.2017 to 05.09.2017 Date of Psycho Test: 31.08.2017 to 06.09.2017 Click here to see result of Station Controller/Train Operator post. Customer Relation Assistants (CRA): Total candidate shortlisted: 515 Date of documents verification: 28.08.2017 to 29.08.2017 Date of Psycho Test: 29.08.2017 to 30.08.2017 Click here to see result of Station Controller/Train Operator post. Venue for Document Verification & Psycho Test:  DMRC Training Institute, Shastri Park, Delhi-110053

Pune: Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC) has bagged its second contract for the Pune Metro Rail project and will soon start construction work on the second Metro corridor in Pune. This order is worth Rs 350 crore and is for the design and construction of an elevated viaduct on corridor 2 of the Pune Metro, with a length of 7.150 km from Vanaz to Civil Court. The Hyderabad-based infrastructure construction company, NCC, is already executing the Rs499-crore construction contract for the elevated Metro rail viaducts for the first corridor. This is part of corridor 1 from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to Range Hills. Brijesh Dixit, MD, Maharashtra Metro Rail — the 50:50 Indian and Maharashtra government joint venture executing the `11,420-crore Pune Metro project — said with these two contracts done, the Pune Metro project is on track and work has now started on the Metro stations. The 31.2-km Pune Metro will have two corridors and have 31 stations in all. “Earl...

Lucknow: With Lucknow Metro"s launch close on its heels , Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) is also planning to begin construction of Kanpur Metro by early next year. LMRC, which is coordinator of Kanpur Metro"s DPR has sought initial funding from the state government to begin documentation and floating of its tenders this year. An LMRC"s senior official said, "We have tried to convince the government to give us some initial funds to begin the tendering of its works this year so that we are able to begin construction by early next year. We have sought around Rs 25-30 crore as the initial fund to start the process." The project"s DPR has already been approved by the state government and will now be sent for Centre"s approval. The team is following footsteps of Lucknow Metro where even before Centre agreed to share the construction cost, former government kept funding the construction from time to time. LMRC said that the government may extend big...

New Delhi: The new metro rail policy empowers states, by putting the onus on them to improve project viability by stressing on economic viability and private participation, according to a recent ICRA report. The report elaborated that the viability can be improved by promoting transit-oriented development (TOD) and allying it with real estate development, improving last-mile connectivity as well as attracting private investments. “The new metro rail policy will increase the state government’s role and responsibility in developing the new metro projects,” K Ravichandran, Senior Vice-President and Group-Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA, said in a statement. The policy provides for rigorous assessment of new metro proposals, including alternate transit mode analysis to ensure that the least-cost and most-efficient mass transit mode is selected for public transport, the report pointed out. Further, it also proposes an independent third-party assessment of proposals by gover...

New Delhi: Public Private Partnership (PPP) model represents a valuable instrument that stimulates infrastructure development in the country. India has witnessed considerable growth in PPPs in the last decade and emerged as one of the leading PPP markets in the world. In view of this, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) organized the fifth edition of the India PPP Summit on 26th July 2017 at Federation House, New Delhi. Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Hon’ble Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Government of India was the Guest of Honor and gave the Inaugural address in the summit. The summit aimed at presenting the Report Card for PPP Projects and providing an opportunity to rebuild the trust deficit amongst the stakeholders. The summit discussed critical issues on existing policy framework and regulations concerning PPPs, fostering partnerships to invigorate PPPs and innovative financing solutions. It also provided an opportunity to el...

Kochi: Amid a demand for a cut in fares, the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) Managing Director Elias George made it clear on Wednesday that the fare policy would be reviewed only after the commencement of metro commercial operations till Maharajas. “The correct pattern of regular metro users can be arrived at only when the Metro reaches Maharajas College. We will analyse the situation then and accordingly effect certain changes in the fare structure,” the official said while visiting the Changambuzha Metro station where the mural art work decorations were completed. After the initial rush, thanks to joyriders, the metro trains operating in the Aluva-Palarivattom section is witnessing less commuter patronage during the weekdays though the situation is much better on holidays and weekends. According to the official, the authorities aim to start the metro operation in the 18 km Aluva-Maharajas stretch by the first week of October, before the Under-17 Football World Cup gets underwa...

Kochi: The Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) on Friday said passenger services will be rescheduled from August 26 (tomorrow) and will start only from 8 am. The change is part of the KMRL’s plan to extend the operations of Kochi Metro till Maharaja’s College by the beginning of October before the FIFA Under-17 World Cup event starts. In a statement, the KMRL said “in order to commission this reach, technical tests have to be done on the signalling system for the complete section from Aluva to Maharaja’s College. This delayed schedule will continue till September 2 for ensuring the smooth commissioning of the signalling system.” As September 3 is Sunday, the services will be starting at 8 am. The services will start at the usual time i.e. 6 am from September 4, it said. [caption id="attachment_10342" align="alignnone" width="300"] Kochi Metro changes its metro services schedule. (Image Credit: Kochi Metro)[/caption]

Ghaziabad: Nearly a week after the additional chief secretary announced that the state government was contemplating a change in funding pattern of 9.41km metro project, the principal secretary on Friday said that the old pattern would be followed. Though 9.41km metro project is presently in the making, lack of funds could be a major stumbling block. Mukul Singhal, principal secretary (housing), on Friday, visited Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) headquarters and said that the old funding pattern, with the cost being shared by different UP departments, will be continued to fund the 9.41km metro project. “The funding pattern will remain the same and different UP agencies such as Avas Vikas, UP state industrial development corporation, municipal corporation and GDA will contribute their share. I don’t have any knowledge about the new pattern as told by the additional chief secretary. The Metro project will not run into a funds cruch, as the departments will make their paym...

New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) today launched ‘High speed Free Wi-Fi’ facilitiy at Metro stations on its Blue Line i.e, Line-3/4 (Dwarka Sec-21 to Noida City Centre/Vaishali). DMRC’s Managing Director, Dr. Mangu Singh formally launched the facility from the Rajiv Chowk Metro station. The facility titled “Oui DMRC Free Wi-Fi” will be available on all 50 stations of the Blue Line. A person will be able to log in simply by searching for Wi-Fi options and log into “Oui DMRC Free Wi-Fi” after doing a onetime registration through their mobile phones. With this facility, passengers will be able to use all standard internet applications inside the station premises like email, Face book, Google, video chat as well as live streaming of cricket and football matches etc. For providing this free wifi facility, DMRC has tied up with a consortium led by M/s Techno Sat Comm which is already providing the same facility on all six Metro statio...

New Delhi: Ahead of Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) election, scores of members of the Left-affiliate All India Students Association (AISA) took out a rally titled " DU demands " in the University"s North Campus on Tuesday. Demanding a violence free campus, hostel facility and metro concessional passes , the students submitted a memorandum under their campaign " Hinsa Nahi Hostel Chahiye, Fare Hike Nahi Metro Pass Chahiye ." The memorandum had 20,000 signatures of students across colleges and was presented to the Vice Chancellor. Kawalpreet Kaur, President of DU AISA said, "In a country where more than 80% belong to the lower income group, quality and affordable education to all has to be the biggest priority for any model of development. But other than constructing more universities on those lines we must also focus on DU. On the one hand, DU is being made unaffordable to common students, and on the other, it is becoming a hub of hooliganism."...

As you know that Government of India has recently approved new Metro Rail Policy to expend metro rail network in various cities of India. Special focus given on public-private-partnership (PPP) model and business opportunities to private sectors. According to policy, Private participation either for complete provision of metro rail or for some unbundled components (like Automatic Fare Collection, Operation & Maintenance of services etc) will form an essential requirement for all metro rail projects seeking central financial assistance, to capitalize on private resources, expertise and entrepreneurship.We at Metro Rail News now started an initiative to update the job seekers, investors, metro rail professionals, engineering & technology experts, private metro operators, rail business consultants, railway equipment manufacturers and suppliers on real-time basis. If you are one of them and seeking jobs and business opportunities in metro railways and smart public transportation s...

New Delhi: Traveling at a speed of 300 km/hour, an  Indian Railways bullet train will take you from Delhi to Amritsar via Chandigarh in the coming years. The bullet train would complete the 458-km long train journey in 2 hours and 3 minutes, a senior Railway official told Financial Express Online. The bullet train will also stop at Panipat, Ambala, Chandigarh and Ludhiana. Presently, the Delhi to Amritsar Shatabdi Express train takes around 6 hours. In effect your train travel time from Delhi to the Golden Temple town would come down to one-third! The feasibility study for the corridor, the details of which were shared with Media, has been done by France’s Systra. “The feasibility study report of high-speed rail corridor between Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar has been submitted to the Ministry of Railways in 2016. The report has been accepted by the Ministry of Railways and is currently under consideration,” the official said. The distance between Delhi to ...

Lucknow: Metro fares as decided by the Board of Directors of Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) will vary from ₹ 10 to ₹ 60 depending upon the number of stations travelled inside the Metro system. Fares have been decided for the entire 23 km North –South (Phase 1A) Metro Corridor from Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport to Munshipulia. The fares have been decided with the prime objective of maintaining price affordability of transport to the general public. Unlike other Metro systems, the Lucknow Metro fares have been decided based on the number of Metro stations travelled as against the distance travelled in the Metro system. The minimum fare has been kept at ₹ 10 for travel up to one Metro station. A zone based approach has been adopted for fare grid based on the number of stations travelled as under: i) Minimum fare structure –                           ...

Hyderabad: Work on the ₹14,132-crore Hyderabad metro rail project has gathered pace with the Telangana government keen on commissioning one of the longest networks, a stretch of 30 km, at one go during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Hyderabad in November. While couple of stretches of 8 km and another one of 11 km are ready for commissioning and had secured various approvals, including rail safety, the State Government has decided to launch the project connecting two completed stretches across two lines running to a total distance of 30 km. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has requested Prime Minister to launch the project when he visits Hyderabad to take part in a Global Entrepreneurship Summit to be held here in November. The concessionaire, construction major L&T, has been implementing the project, a 72-km long elevated metro corridor, connecting three dense stretches, under the public private partnership mode. While the project was to be completed by July ...

Mumbai: While Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) has said that the tunneling work for Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro-3 will commence in October, it has now washed its hands of, saying MMRC won"t be responsible for any collapse of old dilapidated buildings that may occur during the tunneling work and the contractors would be solely responsible for the same. However, MMRC has said that the contractor is conducting a pre-construction survey of all the structures in the influence zone of Metro-3 alignment and during the tunneling all these structures will be monitored to avoid any untoward incident or accident. Ashwini Bhide, Managing Director, MMRC, said, "We are using the latest technology when it comes to tunneling, which is very safe. There should be no scope for any structure collapsing or loss of life due to tunneling. However, in case of a collapse, it is the contractor who is responsible for the same and not MMRC." Bhide added, "The residents of those structures t...

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kochi Metro in mid-June, he said that 50 other cities are interested in similar rail systems. This is good news as public transportation is more sustainable than personal cars or motorbikes. It uses up less road space, consumes less fuel, emits fewer pollutants and causes fewer road fatalities. It is for this reason that the National Urban Transport Policy, adopted in 2006, recommended investments in public transport rather than in transport policies that promote greater personal vehicle use. There is a range of public transport options available, including standard metro rail systems and buses, and newer variants such as light rail, bus rapid transit and trams. Each has pros and cons in terms of costs, passenger load, environmental degradation and the ease of making route and scheduling changes in response to demand. City planners should assess the number of passengers who would need to be transported before deciding on the most expen...

Kochi: The Kochi Metro construction in the third reach from Maharajas College to Thykoodam has commenced with the new contractor Cherian Varkey Construction Company and Vijay Nirman Constructions (CVCC & VNC) planning to carry out the activities from both ends. “The construction activities are planned at both ends – Jos Junction and Thykoodam. A test pile has been done at Jos junction and soon the full scale construction by erecting barricades will start. The land in the Thykoodam-Pettah stretch is yet to be handed over,” metro sources said. The Rs 300 crore project will include construction of elevated viaduct besides that of three metro stations – Ernakulam South, Thaikoodam and Petta, in the nine-km long section from Maharajas College to South station and from Kunnara Park to Pettah. The construction work till Thykoodam is aimed to be completed in 20 months by March 2019, sources said. The metro authorities are also planning to complete construction of th...

Mumbai: Affected by the construction of the Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro-3 underground corridor, residents of South Mumbai have said that they plan to approach the Bombay High Court. Their contention is that the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) is allegedly risking peoples’ lives by going ahead with the construction the said underground corridor. They claim that the detailed project report (DPR) of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for several elevated Metro projects has stated that underground stations are more prone to terrorist attacks, whereas elevated stations are not. They claim that by going underground, MMRCL is allegedly undermining the safety of citizens. Jamshed Sukhadwalla, a resident of Marine Lines and a structural engineer, said, “If what is mentioned in the report of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for MMRDA on Metro-2B is true, then it will also be applicable to the Metro-3 underground corridor. This means that by...

New Delhi: Nine cities will get an additional 313 km of Metro rail connectivity by March 2019, almost double the current 370-km operational length in eight cities since the first metro rail service in 1984 . The cities include Lucknow, Nagpur, Kochi, Hyderabad, Delhi, Noida, Chennai and Bengaluru. According to a media report, close to 537 km of metro tracks are under construction at present. Aside from the Nagpur , Ahmedabad and Lucknow , projects approved by the current National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, the rest were given the go-ahead by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. With respect to funding, the Central and the state governments follow a 50-50 equity venture model. The Centre gives assistance of up to 20 percent of a project"s costs, excluding land costs. It provides 14 percent equity and the subordinate debt accounting for about six percent. The remaining contributions are taken up by the state government in the form of loans. An ...

Mumbai: Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray today alleged that the environment assessment report provides misleading information about Aarey milk colony, where a car shed of the city"s Metro-3 project is proposed to be set up. The construction of the car shed at the Aarey colony in suburban Goregaon would pose a threat to the area"s biodiversity, he further said. A car depot of the Metro-3 Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ corridor is proposed at the Aarey milk colony. The Shiv Sena had earlier objected to the hacking of 2,298 trees in Aarey colony to make way for the car shed for the Metro line. "We are not against the Metro (project) as I personally travel by it at times. But, officers have mislead the chief minister by stating that only mice are found in the area of Aarey milk colony," Thackeray alleged. "The environment impact assessment report has mentioned that only mice are found in this identified area. The fact is that other animals, including leopards, are found ove...

New Delhi: Metro travellers who use the Metro to commute to work will have to face a tough time as the contract workers of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation"s (DMRC) resorting to protests once again. The contract workers have been protesting since August 17 demanding pending payments since nine months from DMRC and FEMC Pratibha. Apart from sending half of his monthly income home to his mother and three siblings in Katihar, Bihar, 19-year-old Anzar Alam saves a tiny sum every month for emergencies. But now that his village has been hit by a flood, he feels helpless. “I haven’t been paid in the last two months, so I have spent my savings on rent and food…I need money urgently so my family in Katihar can survive,” said Alam, one of the 1,600 labourers with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) protesting at Jantar Mantar since August 17. Along with the labourers, contractors too have taken to the streets demanding “pending payments of nine months from DMRC ...

Kochi: If all goes as planned the Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) will soon enter the city"s realty sector. The Metro agency"s entry into real estate targeting middle class home buyers is expected to redefine the sector. In a recent talk delivered by KMRL managing director Elias George, he firmly stated the Metro agency"s readiness to plunge into the sector. "We are going to do real estate business ," he said, adding, "We are confident that we can give the best possible fittings and flats." KMRL expects to generate revenue of approximately Rs 1,000 crore through the sale of these apartments. Kerala government has provided 18 acres of land to KMRL at Kakkanad, where old NGO quarters are located, and the flats will come up here. The Metro agency intends to develop European-styled apartments which are of 1,000-1,200 square feet. These apartments would cost less than what the front runners in the sector are selling now, he said. The KMRL managing director sa...

Lucknow: In a major development for the commuters of Lucknow, Commissioner Metro Railway Safety (CMRS), Government of India, on Monday gave the green signal for the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) to start commercial operations. CMRS Satish Kumar Pandey gave his approval to the LMRC after inspecting a trial run of a Metro train at the maximum operating speed of 80 kmph. He, along with senior LMRC officials, carried out the inspection on Monday. The train completed a to-and-fro trial run between Transport Nagar Metro station and Charbagh Metro station. LMRC in a statement said that the trial run was completed successfully on the 8.5 km priority corridor which covers eight stations. LMRC Managing Director Kumar Keshav said, “Getting all the required technical clearances from the Ministry of Railway and finally certification from the CMRS today to commence revenue operations on the Priority Corridor of the Lucknow Metro Project from Transport Nagar to Charbagh has been a grea...

New Delhi: E Sreedharan , famously known as the Metro Man, has always been a vocal critic of PPP ( public-private-partnership ). Therefore, his reluctance in executing urban rail projects on PPP mode is not new and if facts are to be believed the 85-year-old’s fear is not misplaced either. Sreedharan in the past had said the construction of  Airport Express Metro would have incurred 20 per cent less expenditure had Delhi Metro built it. In the case of Airport Express, the entire civil structure was done by  Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), accounting for 60 per cent of the cost. He had said the other 40 per cent could also have been done by DMRC with the help of a loan from Japan. The project got delayed on several accounts and was finally salvaged by Sreedharan and launched in February 2011. In the airport line, DMRC invested 55 per cent of the cost (50 per cent of which was borrowed from Japan). Reliance Infrastructure, whi...

New Delhi: With the completion of Phase III of the Delhi Metro , the city will have as many as 27 interchanging stations, three times the existing number of 9. The new Pink line, which is expected to be fully operational by March 2018, will also increase the total distance covered by the Metro to 348 km. The Pink Line , that will run from Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar and cover 38 stations, will have Azadpur, Netaji Subhash Place, and South Campus as interchanging stations. Commuters on the Orange Line (Airport Express) travelling from New Delhi Railway Station to Dwarka 21 will be able to interchange at INA and Lajpat Nagar. Similarly, for the Magenta Line between Janakpuri (West) and Botancial Garden, apart from these two terminating points, Hauz Khas and Kalkaji Mandir will also facilitate changing of trains for different lines. Mayur Vihar, Phase 1, Anand Vihar, Karkardooma and Welcome will serve as interchanging stations for the Violet Line. The total number of stations after Phase II...