India Helping Mauritius Build Metro Rail Network At One Third The Cost Of Delhi, Mumbai Metros!

Metro rail network has been a prime mode of transport for many in India, at least in the regions where it is present. And no matter how much this network expands, there is always a demand that matches the supply of the transport services. But what if the network could have been much larger than it is today, within the same budget used for the present infrastructure? Sounds cool, right?

Well, if it could have been, then why isn¡¯t it? To put it simply, because of all of us, the citizens of India, and our erratic driving habits. Now before you start feeling bad about this, here is the reason why we amounted to a larger cost for the entire metro rail network in the country.

Metro rail networks can be built at three separate levels - road level, above road level and below road level. Needless to say, any metro rail line built at the road level would lead to lower costs as compared to the other two. Above road level metro lines require pillars to be made, while below road level lines need tunnels to be dug, both the processes involving a huge infrastructure cost.

Reuters

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So how did we influence the authorities to not go for the cheaper option? Safety is a top most priority when it comes to planning of rail networks. If the metro rail networks in India were to be at road level, several safety alarms would be raised due to the undisciplined driving of Indians. As per reports, India witnessed 4.64-lakh road accidents within 2017, with 1.47 lakh fatalities and 4.7 lakh injured. Imagine a rail network running alongside such accident-prone roads. The safety concerns would only be further aggravated. Unmanned level crossings or ¡®phataks¡¯ are other such concerning elements.

Experts say that the cost of metro rail systems would have been one-third had the system been placed at the road level.

RITES, which has been involved in several metro rail projects in India, is now working on such a project in Mauritius. As a testimony to the cost saving analysis, experts from the firm believe that the project in Mauritius will cost much less than the metro systems built in India.

Reuters

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An official working on the project elaborates, ¡°It is a 32-km light metro rail project. Coaches will be lighter than that of Delhi Metro. It is largely on grade, with some portions elevated. This model can also be used in several cities in India where full scale metro will not be viable.¡± Experts believe that the disciplined traffic movement in Mauritius make this project possible.

In any case, such road-level metro rail projects are being deemed as viable options for several cities of India as well, where a full-fledged metro rail system cannot be put in place. If the people start following traffic rules in such tier-2, tier-3 cities, stick to lane driving and make sure that signals on the unmanned level crossings are followed, such low cost metro rail systems can be put in place in the regions as well. Once done, such air-conditioned metro trains will prove to be less polluting for the environment and cheaper mode of transport than private vehicles for the commuters.