The hopes of Guntur residents about the provision of Metro Rail project appear to be dashed with the city being excluded from the first phase of the proposed elevated rail corridor project.
E. Sreedharan, former Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, said including Guntur in the first phase at this juncture was not be advisable.
World-wide metro rail projects are taken up as intra-city transportation mode projects and not as inter-city projects. In Bangalore city, which has a population of about 55 lakh, the metro rail project was taken up covering more than 100 km and in New Delhi with 16 million population, the project covers 56 km.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Metro Rail projects are expensive and it requires Rs.200 crore to develop one km track and all these factors need to be taken into consideration,” he explained.
A master plan would be prepared for identification of other corridors, keeping in view factors like capital city establishment, increasing population, Vijayawada city expansion etc. To meet future requirements, especially Guntur, the two corridors to be taken up in first phase can be extended further, he said.
“No metro rail projects in the world are making profits. Efforts have to be made for ensuring financial sustainability and generating revenues to meet operational costs. Emphasis is always on service than profit-making,” he added.
ADVERTISEMENT