MONORAIL A REALITY?

MONORAIL A REALITY?

It Will Be Feeder Link To Namma Metro; All Set To Cover 60 Km In 4 Corridors

TIMES NEWS NETWORK


Bangalore: The ball is now in ABIDe’s court — to fuel this train forward or to junk it.
The 60-km network of monorail project which did not move beyond the conception stage, may chug along the city’s landscape. After putting Metro rail and High Speed Rail Link on track, the government has turned its attention to the monorail project, which has been gathering dust.
The Infrastructure Development Department (IDD) which included monorail in its list of PPP initiatives, has placed the project before ABIDe for clearance.
ABIDe has been empowered by the chief minister to give its opinion and approval for infrastructure projects being mooted for Bangalore.
“The project technically belongs to the urban development department. Since it has been designed on PPP model, the IDD will be doing the facilitation role. The project will be discussed by ABIDe members shortly and a decision will be taken,’’ said officials dealing with the giant project.
The monorail network, which has been conceived as a complementary feeder route to Namma Metro, would cost an estimated Rs 140 crore/km. It was also discussed on the lines of the Swiss Challenge method for implementation — a private firm takes up the project right from the detailed project report stage to construction. This method was proposed in the state Infrastructure Policy 2007.
HOW IT EVOLVED
The government appointed RITES in August 2005 to conduct a comprehensive traffic and transportation study and propose a plan of action for undertaking various projects to ease traffic congestion quickly.
A transportation plan included Metro rail on 137 km, including HSRL; monorail on 60 km; commuter rail on 204 km and BRT system of 291.5 km; development of 226 km of major new roads and improvements to 645 km of existing roads was conceived.
The government directed BMRC to appoint a consultant for the project. Accordingly, a global tender was issued and a proposal for appointing a consultant was submitted by BMRC in August 2007. A final decision is still pending. Though two firms have evinced interest in the monorail project, they have been kept on hold.
ABIDe ALL FOR IT?
ABIDe has asked for a project presentation. “Monorail is fast to implement, cost-effective and can take heavy passenger load. It’s preferred over Metro in developed countries.
The project will be discussed and a positive decision will be taken,’’ said expert member, ABIDe, professor M N Sreehari.
toiblr.reporter@timesgroup.com
60-KM MONORAIL CORRIDORS Corridor I: Kanakapura Road to Mysore Road along Ring Road with a T-connection from Katriguppe to National College Corridor II: Bannerghatta National Park to Adugodi along Bannerghatta Road Corridor III: Tumkur Road to Bellary Road Corridor IV: Mysore Road to Tumkur Road along Ring Road with a T-connection from Toll Gate to Magadi Road
FEATURES 3-12 coaches per train Carrying capacity: 1,200 passengers
Cost: Rs 85 crore/ km to Rs 140 crore/km
INFRASTRUCTURE DEPT PROJECTS
Of the 224 projects planned at a cost of Rs 1.38 lakh crore, the highest number are transportrelated — 176 worth Rs 69,939 crore. Those under active consideration and implementation are High Speed Rail Link, monorail, Devanahalli Business Park, 10,000 km of roads, food parks, tourism projects, road projects in Bellary