Shri. Durga Shanker Mishra, the Secretary of Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Govt. of India, (MoHUA) chaired a conference on Metro Lite, Metro Neo and Water Metro with the Principal Secretaries of Urban Development of all State Governments and Union Territories. The conference was also attended by the MD of Maha Metro & the MD’s of all other Metro corporations of India.
- The Secretary (Urban Development) of the State Government’s & MDs of all Metro Companies participated through Video Conference.
- Shri. Durga Shanker Mishra (MoHUA), Dr. Brijesh Dixit, MD Maha-Metro, Shri. Alkesh Sharma, MD Kochi Metro, Shri. Bhushan Gagrani (Secretary UD-1, Government of Maharashtra) & Directors of Maha Metro were present at the Civil Court office in Pune.
- India is a very diverse country and cities in India have a population ranging between 10-15 lakhs to 1.5 crore.
- All these cities need a robust, reliable, safe & an environmental friendly public transport system which will make these cities more habitable.
- A robust transport is therefore of utmost importance for the growth of any city & hence an appropriate public transport system needs to be proposed, depending upon the size of commuters and the economic activities of the city.
Metro system:
- A Metro system which has been built in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai may not be suitable for tier-2 or tier-3 cities since the commuters are lesser in these cities as compared to the tier 2 or tier-3 cities.
- The very high PHPDT (Peak Hour Per Direction Traffic) will only justify the rail based standard gauge metro system.
- However, the tier-2 and tier-3 cities should have appropriate capacity mass rapid transport system, viz. Metro Lite, Metro Neo and Water Metro.
- Metro Neo is the rubber tyre based articulated bus system which will draw power from overhead electric conductor.
- It will have a dedicated elevated right of way which will ensure un-interrupted mass transit of commuters.
- Similarly, Metro Lite is very popular in Europe and advanced countries.
- The Metro Lite is a tram like system which does not require the paraphrenia of a rail based metro system.
- MD Kochi, has proposed a water metro system which will be helpful to provide mass transits system in kayals (creek) of Kerala coast, canals and water ways.
- Shri. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary (MoHUA) proposed the use of appropriate metro systems in tier 2 & tier-3 cities over rail based high capacity metro system. Further it was stated that metro systems like Metro Lite, Metro Neo & Water Metro are more viable and suitable for tier-2 & tier-3 cities.
Indigenization of Metro component:
- A meeting was also convened for the companies involved in manufacturing of various components related to Metro, buses, Metro Lite, Metro Neo and Water Metro.
- In the meeting emphasis was laid on metro companies for indigenization of coaches under Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
- Representatives of Alstom, Titagarh, BEML, ABB, Siemens, Electroline, Tooltech, Diamler Benz, Mitsubishi, Knorr Bremse, Secheron, Ansaldo and Faiveley participated in the conference.
- These companies showed keen interest in the Rolling stock requirement of Metro Lite, Metro Neo and Water Metro.
- The large-scale implementation of Metro Lite and Metro Neo to tier-2, tier-3 cities of India will transform the way of life of commuters in these cities & improve economic activities in these cities.
- The Rolling stock requirement of Metro Lite, Metro Neo and Water Metro will increase significantly in the upcoming years & it will provide great opportunities to the Indian companies.
- Shri. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary (MoHUA) also reviewed the mission of 1000 km of Metro Operation & 1 crore passengers by June 2022.
- The implementation of the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) was also reviewed by Secretary (MoHUA).
- The National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) are providing the necessary infrastructure required for the implementation of the National Common Mobility Card.
Source: Pune Metro-Press Release
