Bangalore's metro rail

Bangalore's metro rail
Times of India

The daily grind that driving through the city's crowded streets amounts to has forced the authorities to come up with different solutions. Be it widening roads, building flyovers, or making one-ways, the problem of traffic congestion is still expected to persist with the growing number of vehicles on the city's roads. A mass transit system is now becoming the only long-term solution. An efficient system will get a considerable number of vehicles off the roads. The State Government has for some time worked on possibilities. B S Manu Rao spoke to K N Shrivastava, Managing Director, Bangalore Mass Rapid Transit Ltd for an insight into the developments on the proposed 'metro rail' for Bangalore

What plans have been drawn up on the proposed mass transit system?
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was asked to make a study and prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for a metro system. This was done in May 2003 and a DPR for Bangalore Metro Phase I was submitted. As per the proposal, the city will be divided into two corridors. Northsouth and east-west. The total length of the system will be 34 km. Of this, seven km of rail will be underground and the rest will be elevated. In localities around Majestic, Chickpet, City Market, and Vidhana Soudha, the system will be below ground. After Cubbon Park, it will be elevated. This is the plan proposed in the first phase. In later years, the system will be expanded as the city grows.

What will its specifications be?
In the first phase, the system will begin from the Outer Ring Road and Mysore Road junction and run till Byappanahalli as one corridor. As the second corridor, it will run between Yeshwanthpur and end of R V Road in Jayanagar. The tracks will be standard gauge (1.45 metres width). The piers that will hold the tracks on which the trains will run will be 5.5 metres tall with a girth of 1.6 metres. The height of the track will be 8.5 metres from the ground. So, there will be no limitations to traffic passing under the rails.

How efficient will the system be?
It will take 30 minutes to travel from one end of the city to another. There will be a train starting every three minutes in each direction. Each train will have six coaches carrying 2,060 passengers totally (seated and standing). The system will carry 40,000 passengers per peak hour peak direction traffic. The coaches will be air conditioned and made in stainless steel. There will be no joints. All six will be connected with walk-through vestibules. Power will be drawn from a third rail acting as a conductor and running between the two rails. This will make the system appear more aesthetic.

What are the financial implications?
We had initially estimated the cost at Rs 4,989 crores in May 2003. But now it has escalated to Rs 5,605 crores mainly due to the increase in costs of land that has to be acquired and steel. Every day's delay is pushing up the cost by Rs 50 lakhs. We are therefore pursuing the matter vigorously on all fronts. Around the year 2011, the demand would have increased to necessitate additional trains and coaches. We estimate this will call for a capital expenditure of another Rs 347 crores. Around then we will also require an additional Rs 255 crores towards a debt service reserve to bridge the gap between the yearly debt repayment installment and the revenue surplus that is expected to be available. The estimates indicate that the project will incur losses till the sixth year and begin making healthy profits after that. However, it will make operational profits from the beginning.

How will the system be financed?
The State Government will put in Rs 1,807 crores over eight years. The Centre will put up Rs 1,447 crores over the same period. The remaining Rs 2,953 crores will be raised through loans. Recently, in a meeting at Mumbai, 46 financial institutions pledged Rs 3,400 crores to the project. The finance will come at 8.5 percent for 17-year bank loans and nine percent for longer 27-year loans that will mainly be taken from insurance companies and providend funds. Both the Central and State Governments have accepted the funding pattern. The process of sanctions is on. We are aiming at obtaining all approvals needed by mid-January 2005. The financial closure is expected by January 2005 end.

How much has been collected as cess so far and where are the fund sparked?
A sum of Rs 142 crores raised between 1995-96 and 1998-99 was passed on to us. This has grown to Rs 216 crores now. Some defence land acquired for the earlier proposed ELRTS is now worth Rs 150 crores. The cess collected between 1999-00 and now has not yet been passed on to us. It is still with the State Government.

When will we get to travel in the train?
If all goes as planned, the construction will begin by April 2005. The section wise operations of trains will begin from October 2009. The entire system will be ready by March 2010.

Proposed locations of stations

NORTH-SOUTH CORRIDOR

Yeshwanthpur Terminal: In front of new railway station Mahalakshmi Layout : Near ISKON Temple Rajajinagar : Near turning of Kuvempu Road
after 14th Cross, 1st Block Kuvempu Nagar : Near Harishchandra Ghat Malleswaram : Near Devaiah Park Swastik Circle : In Mysore Spinning Mill compound Majestic : To south of KSRTC building
(underground) Chickpet : On Arcot Sreenivasachar Street,
near Sirsi Circle flyover (underground) City Market : At Vani Vilas Hospital (underground) K R Road : Near Vani Vilas Road turning Lal Bagh : At Lal Bagh gate opposite
Govindappa Road South End Circle : At Bangalore Hospital Jayanagar : Just before 30th Cross R V Road Terminal : After 38th Cross

EAST-WEST CORRIDOR

Mysore Road Terminal : In front of KEB sub-station Deepanjali Nagar : In front of Sai Bhagwan Temple Vijayanagar : In front of Varasiddhi Vinayaka Temple Hosahalli : Opposite Vijayanagar Police Station Toll gate : After Vijayanagar 3rd Cross near
Telegraph Office Magadi Road : After drain near Canara Bank City Railway Station : At Railway Quarters (underground) Majestic : To south of KSRTC building
(underground) Central College : Opposite Civil Court (underground) Vidhana Soudha : At M S Building (underground) Cricket Stadium : At beginning of M G Road M G Road : Opposite Plaza Theatre Trinity Circle : Near Hotel Oberoi Ulsoor : At police quarters C M H Road : Near Bata showroom Indiranagar : Near Apex Bank Old Madras Road : At Epidemic Diseases Hospital Byappanahalli : At playground of NGEF