The civil work for the elevated light metro proposed for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, in place of the scrapped MRTS, can commence in four months if the government completes the formalities soon.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), general consultant for the project in the two cities, is finalising a detailed project report to be submitted to the government by October 15. “If the government gives the green signal, we can call for civil tenders and start actual construction within four months as is happening in Lucknow and Jaipur,” sources told The Hindu.
As the metro technology was very familiar to the country, there was no need to obtain a turnkey single contractor to do civil works, signalling and electrification, and the rolling stock as in the elevated MRTS (monorail). The works for the light metro could be separately tendered, which could save money and time.
“The DMRC has proposed light metro for the two cities. The light rail transit system (LRTS) is different from the light metro system. The latter will be a regular metro with small coaches and low axle load of 12 to 13 tonnes capable of negotiating very sharp curves and steep gradients,” he said.
Light metro would be able to carry up to 25,000 people per hour per direction traffic (PHPDT) compared to the medium capacity metro such as Kochi that could carry up to 45,000 PHPDT. The cost of an elevated light metro system would be about Rs.160 to 180 crore per km as against Rs.250 crore for a medium capacity normal metro. Light metros could serve the same purpose, in a more safe and dependable manner, he said.
The board of Kerala Monorail Corporation Ltd., special purpose vehicle for the project, headed by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, has made it clear that the light metro will follow the same alignment and will have the same stations in the two cities.