Govt pushes monorail project

Govt pushes monorail project
Bangalore, April 26, DHNS:

In its effort to put in place a feeder service to the Metro project, the State Government has decided to go ahead with its plans to have a monorail for the City.

Although the detailed project report is yet to be prepared, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said a Cabinet meeting scheduled for April 29 would consider the monorail proposal. Yeddyurappa held a meeting with Infrastructure Minister G Janardhana Reddy and other senior officers, discussing the mono rail, the second phase of the Metro project and the high speed rail link (HSRL) to the international airport at Devanahalli.

While pushing for the early implementation of the HSRL, the meeting decided that the government would give its nod once the detailed project report was ready. The chief minister said he would soon hold a meeting with Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee to thrash out the issue of connectivity with commuter train facilities along Bangalore’s Outer Ring Road.

The government had earlier given asked Scomi Geodesic, a Malaysian monorail manufacturer, to submit a proposal under the Swiss challenge method. The proposal deals with monorail link in the central parts of the City—Majestic, Hudson Circle, Banashankari, Yeshwanthpura, Sadashivanagar and Cantonment.

The proposed monorail will connect Hebbal-JP Nagar, Peripheral Ring Road-Magadi Road, Katriguppe Road-National College and Hosur Road-PRR along Bannerghatta Road.
Yeddyurappa expects the cost for rail laying for one km to be around Rs 140 crore.
He okayed the project project after Infrastructure Development Department Principal Secretary V Madhu made a presentation. The rail network will serve as a complimentary service to the Metro and the HSRL to the international airport.

Many cities across the globe like Kuala Lampur, Tokyo, Osaka, China and Tehran have both mono and metro rail facilities. Similar projects are under various stages of implementation in Mumbai and Kolkata. Bangalore will be the third city to take up a mono rail transit facility if the Cabinet approved it. Sources said the Cabinet note on monorail was pending consideration for the last four months. About four to five companies may bid for the project, it is said.

The proposed monorail network intersects with the Metro at eight points and one at Hebbal with the proposed HSRL for Bangalore Airport. The monorail intersects with the Metro at Ganapathi Temple on JP Nagar, Banashankari, Katriguppe, Mysore Road, Magadi Road, Tumkur Road, Chord Road junction and Beggars Colony.

V Madhu said the global tender for DPR would be floated in a couple of days. According to the proposed action plan, the monorail will be commissioned in May 2014. The request for qualification will be invited by December 2010 and the concessionaire will be appointed by June 15, 2011.