Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) ‘reworked’ Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Light Metro in the cities of Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode has found the ambitious project ‘viable and socially justified.’
The proposed facility also would have the needed ridership. The DPR was revised as per the parameters of Metro Rail Policy-2017 under the supervision of DMRC Principal Adviser E. Sreedharan and is awaiting the government’s nod since November 2017.
The Financial Internal Rate of Return (FIRR), an indicator to measure returns on investment based on the revised costs and additional revenues, has gone up to 7.24 % for Thiruvananthapuram and 8.66 % for Kozhikode.
The increase in FIRRs compared to the earlier DPR is mainly due to the continuous revenue stream of Tranist-oriented Development (TOD) and Value Capture Finance (VCF) and the substantial increase in fare structure.
The reworked Economic Internal Rate of Return (EIRR), a tool for advocating investments, has gone up to 17.25% for the capital city’s project and17.61% for Kozhikode. “It is comfortably above the datum base of 14% indicated in the metro policy and the two projects are socially justified,” says the DPR. Another significant change is recommendation for Linear Induction Motor (LIM) technology for the rolling stock to negotiate sharp curves up to 60 m and steep gradient up to 6%.
The use of LIM technology will reduce the axle load to 9 tonnes leading to about 4% savings in civil structures and track costs along the 35.12-km corridor in two cities. There will be considerable savings in the operation and maintenance costs.
However, there will be no change in the cost of rolling stock that will now include the cost of reaction rail as well. There is no change in the alignment and number of metro stations (33). The Peak Hour Peak Direction Traffic (PHPDT) for Thiruvananthapuram is 10,000 while for Kozhikode it is 6,000.
The project has been proposed to be implemented on equal sharing of equity by Centre and State governments. To reduce the capital costs, private participation in automatic fare collection as in Kochi Metro, and lifts and escalators on PPP mode have been mooted.
The cost for laying Light Metro has gone up by ₹700 crore from ₹6,728 crore with incorporation of parameters such as TOD, VCF and PPP.
