‘Metro Rail will solve City’s traffic problem’

‘Metro Rail will solve City’s traffic problem’
Deccan Herald

If areas around Metro stations are sold to commercial establishments, and they contribute to the stations’ maintenance, the economy could boom.



After 38 years in the US of A, Mysore L Nagaraja attaches a certain romance to homecoming. Mr Nagaraja, President of Capital Constructions, a construction company formed by New York State’s Metropolitan Authority (MTA), has been greeted this time by a flurry of reports on Bangalore’s Metro Rail project and the seemingly endless debate over it. While he’s absolutely sure of Metro Rail’s relevance in easing Bangalore of its traffic bottlenecks, the veteran transportation construction manager also emphasises on fool-proof planning and streamlining of technology to ensure the project’s success.

“Metro is relevant in Bangalore. It could be a major solution to the city’s traffic problems. We do have a good bus transport system but the buses have to use the worn-out roads which can’t be expanded after a point. With the number of vehicles increasing alarmingly, we can’t go on like this,” he says.

Mr Nagaraja, who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil/Structural Engineering from the University of Mysore and an MS from the Brigham Young University, Utah, US, was Manager of Design Engineering/Manager of Civil Engineering at M W Kellog Company, Hackensack, New Jersey before moving to the MTA New York City Transit in 1985. As Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer at MTA, he oversaw the reconstruction of the 1 and 9 subway line section which was destructed during the September 11 attacks. In the City to attend a conference, he spoke to Deccan Herald on Metro.

On Bangalore infrastructure and how Metro fits in...

I have a peripheral idea of what’s in the plan. During implementation, it becomes imperative to customise the network according to area specifications. In the Central Bangalore area, elevated tracks can hit the already crammed area. Elsewhere, you can go for a combination of underground and overground tracks and in some areas even tracks on the surface.

A Delhi Metro train carries around 1200 commuters. Roughly, that means 500-600 cars off the road. With the land acquisition, design, planning and implementation involved, the first segment of the Bangalore project should be ready in five years.

On technology and industry updates...

Bangalore should follow standards set by the West. A standardised technology, which involves everything from train cars to signal lights, enables easier upgrades. Since these are early days for the technology there’s scope for growth.

On safety standards...

Safety is of prime importance. Rail road across the world follow universal safety standards. Delhi Metro can match up to the best in Europe or the USA design, which ensures safety as top priority.

On Monorail...

It can work as a supporting system in less-congested areas. Even buses could be plied in these areas. Monorail works only with shorter and less populated traffic.

On commercial avenues...

In Hong Kong, areas over underground stations were sold to commercial enterprises which contributed to the stations’ maintenance. This could be explored in Bangalore. Across the world, areas around Metro rail networks have registered economic boom.

On his mite to the cause...

I think it’s only appropriate that I should give something back to the City. When you compare Bangalore with New York, on many counts the challenges are the same. There has been no intimation from BMRTL yet, but I’m willing to render my services to the project.