`Monorail can start operations from December 2006'

`Monorail can start operations from December 2006'

The Hindu

BANGALORE: The monorail project, if cleared, will operate in the city from December 2006, the Metrail India Chairman, Zafar Saifullah, said here on Monday.

"We will complete the project within 18 to 24 months after it is commissioned," he said at a public discussion on the monorail project. The fares on the monorail, he said, will be around 10 to 15 per cent more than the bus fares.

However, a decision on whether the monorail will be a feeder service to Metro Rail or an alternative can be decided only by the Government, Mr. Saifullah said. "The State administration had asked us to submit a proposal to feed and supplement the Metro and that is exactly what we have done," he added.

The proposal, which has been referred to a high-power committee, will cover an initial distance of 90 km along with the 33 kilometres of the Metro rail.

The monorail will meet the Metro rail at Shivaji Nagar and National College in Basavanagudi. Metrail plans to expand the coverage to 500 km within 10 years.

At the discussion, Mr. Saifullah sought to clear some misconceptions over the performance of the monorail.