UKMRC board approves DPR for ‘Metro Neo’ system in Dehradun

The Board of Directors of Uttarakhand Metro Rail Corporation Limited (UKMRC) has recently approved the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Metro Neo system in Dehradun. Initially, Government of Uttarakhand (GoUK) planned a Metro system for Dehradun-Haridwar Metropolitan area for which Delhi Metro Rail Corporation prepared a DPR in January 2020 as per Metro Rail Policy 2017 issued by Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India.

• It recommended a Metrolite system for all the four corridors including two corridors in Dehradun city (North-South  corridor  from  ISBT  to Kandholi and East-West corridor from FRI to Raipur).
• No decision could be taken on this DPR due to various factors including high cost.
• In  the  meantime, MoHUA has recently issued standard specifications of Metro Neo in November 2020.
• First project of Metro Neo has been planned in the city of Nashik, Maharashtra.
• The cost of Metro Neo being much less than Metrolite.
• It has been decided in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister of Uttarakhand on 29th January 2021 that Metro Neo should be examined for implementation in place of Metrolite in Dehradun city for both corridors (N-S & E-W) except the stretch of NS corridor on Rajpur road.
• In view of the above, the DPR for Metro Neo has been prepared in house by Uttarakhand Metro Rail, Urban Infrastructure & Building Construction Corp. Ltd. based on primary & secondary traffic data collected for the DPR of Metrolite including Topography survey and Geo-technical investigations etc.
• Cost estimations in this DPR are broadly based on Nashik Metro Neo DPR.
• Considering an escalation @ 5% per year.
• As decided, the stretch on Rajpur Road, from Gandhi Park to Kandholi, has been excluded and N-S corridor considered in the DPR is only from ISBT to Gandhi Park (8.523 Kms).
• The stretch of 2.52Kms (Gandhi Park to Kandholi) on the Rajpur Road will be served either by running the Metro Neo coaches as battery operated buses at grade in shared access with other traffic or by some other suitable mode of transport so that there is no impact on the ridership estimated in the DPR of Metrolite and same ridership estimation and projections have been taken in the new DPR.

Salient Features of Metro Neo Project in Dehradun:

Route Length:-

System Design:-

• Station Dwell Time: 20 to 30 seconds
• Train Composition: Single Coach & Bi-Articulated coaches
• Average commercial Speed: 20-25 KMPH
• Design Speed: 70km/h

Overhead Traction System:

• Normal: Overhead Tractionwith 750 V DC
• Emergency: Auxiliary Power Unit with Batteries

Rolling Stock:

• Coach Dimensions:-
  • Height: 3.5 m
  • Width: 2.55m
  • Floor Height:300-350 mm
  • Coach Body: Stainless Steel/Aluminium
• Axle load: 10 T
• Coach Carrying Capacity: –
  • Single Coach (approx. 12 m Long) : 90 passengers
  • Bi-articulated (24-25 m long): 225 passengers
  • Monitoring System: Automatic Vehicle Monitoring (AVM) System

Signaling And Telecommunication:

Signaling:-

• Line of sight signaling and coaches are fitted with anti-collision device for safety.

Telecommunication:-

• Passenger Announcement (PA) System
• Passenger Information Display (PID) System
• Master Clock System
• Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) System
• On‐board passenger information System (PIS)
• Automatic Vehicle Monitoring (AVM) System
• Centralised Digital Voice Recording System (CDRS)
• Central Fault Reporting System (CFRS)
• Mobile Radio Communication

Fare Collection:

National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) is a nationwide inter‐operable transport card which will enable the users to pay for travel, toll, parking etc. All efforts to be made for maximising the use of National Common Mobility Card for travel in Dehradun Metro Neo.

Further, other Electronic Modes of Fare Collection, which may be used are:-

• Contactless Smart Card (CSC)
• EMV, RuPay Cards
• Mobile Application
  • QR (Quick Response) Code
  • NFC (Near Field Communication)

Source: UKMRC-Update