Models of Metro
Due to Urbanization and migration of peoples towards cities, the government has to consider about urban mass rapid transit systems which are also known as metro railways to reclaim much of the lost ground in urban planning. At least 10 metro projects are at the different phases of planning and implementation. These projects would need Rs 2 lakh crore investments until 2019.
A report by the McKinsey Global Institute says that India requires 350 to 400 Km of metros every year.
As Bharat becomes India, the change in demographics presents the situation for developing rapid transports in smaller cities which also notice rise in traffic due to migration of people from rural areas.
Mr. Kamal Nath, Union urban development minister, says that all the cities that have population more than 20 lakhs would get metro line. As per the census of 2011, nearly 13 cities qualify in this. Cities like Jaipur, Patna, Kochi, Ludhiana will soon see metro lines.
Mr. Abhaya Agarwal, partner EY, says that Metro rail is good for its ability to carry large number of people very fast over a short distance
The advantage of Metro is it reduces the travel time, minimizes the operational cost of transport service, improve connectivity, and reduce pollutants.
Mr, Agarwal says that the capacity of passengers carried calculated in peak hour peak direction traffic. The heavy capacity system operates with the capacity of 60-90,000 phpdt, medium capacity is with a capacity of 40-50,000 phpdt, while a light metro has a capacity ranging from 25-30,000 phpdt.
As per the industry per KM cost of underground metro would be about R600 crore, while on-surface cost will be around R20 crore/km and elevated sections would cost around R200 crore/km. The user fee ranges from Rs 3 to 4 per Km for the three different types of development.
He also added that the estimated traffic is the main indicators for the income which determines the existence of project. The project development is based on PPP or EPC model.
Mr. E Sreedharan, India’s Metro man, suggested that PPP model is not suitable for metro projects as it is expensive to develop by using this model.
To earn profit the projects in PPP mode will have to follow a rail plus real estate model as used in Honk Kong where the metro operators used skyscrapers and malls which are linked by the metro rail. The Hyderabad Metro which is developed as PPP project is also using same business model and expects half of the revenue to come from property development and rentals.
Source: The Financial Express
Abhaya Agarwal, E Sreedharan, EPC, Honk Kong, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kamal Nath, Kochi, Ludhiana, mass rapid transit systems, McKinsey Global Institute, metro model, metro rail, Models of Metro, Patna, PPP Metro model, Property development, Public-private partnership, rentals, Union urban development minister
