Title - Bihar plans monorail service in Patna

PATNA, AUG. 1:  The Bihar Urban Development Department is considering a proposal to run monorail service in Patna, official sources said.

The tenders would soon be invited for preparing a detailed project report (DPR) in the next couple of months.

The Bihar Minister for Urban Development, Mr Prem Kumar, said a decision to invite tenders to prepare a DPR of the project would be taken after studying the survey reports, prepared by RITES (Railway Infrastructure Technical and Economic Service).

Monorail is an urban transport system where elevated tracks are raised to run small trains to ferry commuters from one part of the city to another.

The construction cost of this mode of transportation is less than metro rail, as it runs on a single line and consumes less space. The proposal to run a monorail in Patna was mooted during Mr Lalu Prasad’s tenure as Railway Minister as the latter was impressed by the urban transport system during his visits to various countries.

Meanwhile, officials in the East Central Railway maintained that the project could take off only when the State Government takes necessary decisions to acquire land — a key point to raise elevated tracks.