Metro a stand-alone system

Metro a stand-alone system
Deccan Herald

"Broad gauge is too broad,” assert the Bangalore Metro officials. “Standard gauge is not standard,” counter the railway officials. With the proposed Bangalore Metro, the debate between the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation and Ministry of Railways on whether there should be a standard or broad gauge continues to rage. The Group of Ministers, headed by Sharad Pawar, formed to resolve this issue, will meet on March 9 to end this controversy. CM H D Kumaaraswamy said the government will choose a gauge whichever is “more suitable” for the City, on Tuesday. Deccan Herald take a look.

STANDARD GAUGE AND BROAD GAUGE

Vote for Standard Gauge

* Metro is a stand alone system. Inter-operation of trains between metro and main line is neither desirable nor technically feasible.

* BG coaches in Kolkata Metro has a width of 2.47 m, SG coaches have width of 2.88 m

* Sharpest curve on SG is 120 metres, on BG is 200 metres, hence more property acquisition in case of BG.

* Bangalore has narrow roads with sharp bends, building lines very close to roads, highly undulating topography

* BG will increase the project cost by Rs 571 crore

* Under the Tramways Act, gauge of the tramway is to be decided by the State Government

* As most of the metros operate on SG, benefits of continued technological upgradation would be readily available

* Of the 105 metros world over, 73 of them have SG. All metros that came up during the last decade operate on SG with the sole exception being Delhi Metro

* Many countries, like Spain, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and USA have different guages for their mainlines and metros

* The load on axles for SG coaches is less, so construction cost and operating cost is reduced.

The views on standard gauge have been expressed by K N Srivastava, managing director, BMRC, and S N Venkat Rao, advisor to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation

Vote for broad gauge

* All gauges should be standardised to broad gauge

* Broad gauge coaches will have higher passenger capacity

* Broad gauge is superior in terms of safety and technology, will make the benefits long-lasting

* The State government does not have expertise in railway technology, and is not in a position to decide what is good for the project

* Technological research is made feasible if there is only one guage, rather than multiple guages

* Delhi and Kolkata Metros are running successfully on broad gauge

* India is moving towards introducing broad guage as a single gauge or unigauge

The views on broad gauge have been expressed by senior railways officials who did not wish to be quoted

Gauging the gauge issue

Broad Gauge

Length: 1.67 m

All major passenger and freight routes are now broad gauge. This is the widest gauge in regular use anywhere in the world. Outside India, the 1.67 m gauge is found n Pakistan, a spur from Pakistan into Iran, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Argentina, Chile, and the the USA.

Metre Gauge

Length: 1 m

It is said that this gauge was chosen by Lord Mayo, then Viceroy of India, based on calculations to allow 4 persons to sit comfortably abreast.

The first metre gauge line was built in 1872 from Delhi to Farukh Nagar.

Narrow Gauge

Length: 0.76 m

The most well-known line is probably the Kalka–Shimla route.

The rationale for the narrower gauges was economy in building the lines — these lines could be laid much faster than the broad gauge lines and in more difficult terrain.

Standard Gauge

Length: 1.45 m

If the proposal for standard gauge is cleared, Bangalore will be the first Indian city to have the metro run on standard gauge.

The metros in Spain, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan run on standard gauge.