Title - DMRC submits project report for metro

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has submitted the detailed project report (DPR) of tricity metro to the UT Administration on Thursday.
copy of the DPR has also been given to the neighbouring governments of Punjab and Haryana.Now, a meeting of UT Administration’s officials with the Union Ministry of Urban Development would be held shortly, to decide the future course of action.Also, a meeting with the neighboring governments of Punjab and Haryana is likely to be held next month to finalise the financial sharing pattern and land requirement to develop the ambitious project that proposes to link the city with satellite towns of Panchkula and Mohali.After getting a green signal from the neighboring governments and finalising the details, the UT Administration would send the DPR to the Union Ministry for the final approval to execute the project.The DMRC has proposed to start the construction of the project in 2013 and complete the first phase by 2018.KK Sharma, Advisor to the UT Administrator while talking to The Pioneer said: “A copy of DPR of tricity Metro project has been forwarded to the Punjab and Haryana Governments. Now, a meeting would be held with the senior functionaries of both the state governments to finalize various issues pertaining to the ambitious project of tricity Metro.”He said: “A meeting with the Union Ministry of Urban Development would also be held to discuss the metro project.” “We are likely to finalise all the details regarding the project soon. And after that, the DPR would be sent to the Center for approval,” he added.

On Thursday, a team headed by DMRC managing director Mangu Singh met Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Shivraj Patil, senior officials Of UT Administration, Punjab and Haryana to present the metro DPR. And, a presentation regarding the project was also given to the officials by DMRC.

Metro Stations: phase I of the project would have 30 metro stations. This would include a total of 19 elevated and 11 underground metro stations. 10 metro stations in North-South Corridor and 20 metro stations in east-west Corridor has been proposed.

Frequency proposed: tricity Metro rail would run at a frequency of 12 minutes during peak hours on the two proposed Metro corridors in the first phase. DMRC has proposed that the frequency of Metro will be 12 minutes during peak hours and 16 to 30 minutes during lean hours in 2018. The frequency of Metro will be increased in next 30 years including the years 2018, 2021, 2031, 2041, keeping in view the population and future demand of Metro services in the tricity.

In 2021, the frequency of the Metro would be increased to 10 minutes during peak hours while the frequency of Metro during lean hours will remain same i.e 16 to 30 minutes.

Coaches in Metro: has proposed to run four-coach metro trains in the tricity. A fleet of 16 Metro trains, each of 4-coach to be operational by the end of 2018 has been proposed.

Fleet of 6 metro trains on north-south Corridor and 10 trains on east-west Corridor would be made functional by 2018. The Corporation has suggested increasing the number of trains in next 30 years, keeping in view the demand of Metro service in the coming years.

Seats Alignment: Metro will have longitudinally aligned seats – with passengers’ backs facing the window pane, just like Delhi Metro. A four-coach metro train will have a seating capacity of 184 and 976 standees—a total of 1160 passengers (in case of peak period crush load of six persons per square meter). Considering peak period crush load of eight persons per square meter, the Metro would seat 184 and accommodate 1296 standees totaling 1480 passengers at a time.

Gauge: The tricity Metro system will be built on Standard Gauge (1435 mm). DMRC has proposed construction of the tricity metro system on standard gauge, which is now used in most of the modern age transport systems across the world. The standard gauge is cost-effective as compared to the broad gauge system. The standard gauge is narrower than the broad gauge lines and it allows easier access through heavily congested areas of the city. Also, standard gauge lines reduce the engineering and civil costs of the project and later maintenance cost.

Projections: The tricity Metro will be designed for a capacity of 7007 PHPDT (Peak hour peak direction traffic) on Metro Corridor - I and 6711 PHPDT on Metro Corridor - II in the year 2018. As per DMRC projections, around 1.6 lakh passenger trips per day are expected on Corridor-I in 2018 including 1.1 lakh passengers from Chandigarh and 53309 of Punjab. Around 1.7 lakh passenger trips per day are expected on Corridor – II including 1.1 lakh passengers from Chandigarh, 14645 from Punjab and 40,804 passengers from Haryana.

Fare of Metro :DMRC has proposed that the fare pattern implemented in Delhi can be followed here. At present, the minimum fare (0-2 km) is `8 while the maximum fare (over 39 km) is `30 in Delhi. The base fare for tricity Metro project is likely to be `8-10 while the highest slab may go upto `30. The Corporation has proposed automatic fare collection system with POM (Passenger operated machines) and smart cards etc.