New Delhi: Metro Lite and Metro Neo — cheaper alternatives to conventional metro rail — have become the new buzzword for smaller cities across India to augment public transport. Nashik, Thane, Gorakhpur, Jammu, Srinagar and Coimbatore administrations are in talks with the Centre to get these modes of transport, ThePrint has learnt.
While it costs Rs 222 crore per km to construct a conventional metro rail, a Metro Lite, which resembles a tramway, costs Rs 140 crore per km, and Metro Neo, which is more like an electric trolleybus, costs Rs 71 crore per km.
With far less cost of conventional metro, the two new technologies also got a thumbs up from Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who, in her Budget speech, said Metro Lite and Metro Neo will be deployed to “provide metro rail systems at much lesser cost with same experience, convenience and safety in Tier-2 cities and peripheral areas of Tier-1 cities”.
Two senior officials in the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs told ThePrint they have already received proposals from Gorakhpur and Delhi (Rithala to Narela link) for Metro Lite project, and from Nashik for a Metro Neo project.
“We are studying the proposals before taking it to the cabinet for final approval,” said one of the officials.
Nashik, for instance, has proposed two Metro Neo lines of total 32 km with an estimated cost of Rs 2,100 crore. Delhi has proposed a Metro Lite project to provide last-mile connectivity in the peripheral areas, the official said.
Besides these three proposals, many other cities, including Thane, Coimbatore, Warangal, Hyderabad, Jammu and Srinagar, have evinced keen interest.
“Some of them like Thane have readied the Detailed Project Report for developing a Metro Lite corridor and are likely to send the proposal to us for approval soon,” said the second ministry official who spoke to ThePrint.
The Thane Municipal Corporation has already cleared the proposal to develop a 28.8-km corridor at an estimated cost of Rs 6,279 crore.
“Metro projects are capital-intensive and are viable for big cities with very high ridership and ‘per hour per direction traffic (PHPDT)’. For smaller cities with lesser traffic, light rail solutions like Metro Lite or a Metro Neo will be more viable and cost-effective,” Jaideep, Officer on Special Duty (Urban Transport), MoHUA, told ThePrint.
Both the new technologies will not only complement the conventional metro, but could be good alternatives for providing last-mile connectivity in the peripheral areas of big cities like Delhi, he added.
India already has 717 km of metro rail network and work is under way in another 1,000 km stretch.
Ministry officials said that by 2024-2025, India will have over 1,700 km of metro network, the second highest after China, which has over 7,000 km of metro network.
Also read: Daily drills, AC upgrade & more — how Delhi Metro is preparing for post-lockdown times
What are Metro Lite and Metro Neo?
Metro Lite is a light urban rail transit system, which can easily cater to a ridership of 2,000 to 15,000 per-hour-per-direction traffic. Conventional metro caters to traffic of over 15,000 PHPDT.
Metro Lite costs 40 per cent less than a conventional metro system.
Ministry officials said the low cost is mainly on account of reduced axle load of 12 tonne as against 17 tonne in case of conventional metro, reduced size of coaches and simple train stations with no concourse. Metro Lite has a passenger capacity of upto 300 for a three-coach train unit.
They can run on standard gauge track with a right of way of 7.6 metres.
“The civil structure is significantly less as compared to conventional metro and they run mostly on elevated lines with a maximum operational speed of 60 kmph,” said Jaideep.
Metro Neo resembles an electric bus trolley and can cater to a ridership of upto 8,000 PHPDT, which can be extended upto 10,000. It does not require a standard gauge track. The coaches will have rubber tyres and will run on road slabs, which are either elevated or at grade. They will have dedicated tracks and will draw power supply from overhead traction.
They can have a single coach of around 12-metre length or two articulated coaches of around 18-metre length or three articulated coaches of around 24 metres — catering to upto 250 passengers.
The railway ministry has already finalised the specifications for Metro Lite and Metro Neo. Both the transport systems will be covered under the Metro Act.
“These are technological interventions that will transform public transport. They cost less, and provide a safe and energy-efficient public transport system. Our basic intent is to take the metro to smaller cities across India, which will propel economic development in these areas,” Jaideep said.
Globally, many cities such as Budapest, Melbourne, Vienna, Zurich, Salzburg, San Francisco, Riyadh and Lyon have these cost and fuel-efficient public transport systems.
Also read: 10 facts you probably didn’t know about the Delhi Metro that just turned 17
Rolling stock manufacturers ready
Union Housing Secretary D.S. Mishra has already met rolling stock manufacturers, including France-based Alstom, Kolkata-based Titagarh Group and Bengaluru-based BEML, to discuss if they have the expertise to develop the new transport systems.
Ministry officials said most of the rolling stock manufacturers are eager to work on these modern transport systems.
Umesh Chowdhary, vice-chairman and managing director, Titagarh Group, which caters to passenger rolling stock including trains and metro coaches, told ThePrint: “In urban mobility, there has to be multiple options like Metro Lite and Metro Neo.”
“In many European countries, these systems exist. We have the expertise, technology and willingness to get into this sector and cater to the Indian market.”
Titagarh Firema SPA, the wholly-owned Italian subsidiary of Titagarh Group, had won the international bid for supplying 102 coaches for Pune Metro in 2019.
French mobility major Alstom, which has a big presence in India now and manufactured coaches for Chennai Metro, Kochi Metro and Lucknow Metro, said the firm’s ambition is to accompany transportation stakeholders globally in meeting tomorrow’s mobility challenges.
“We have always been keen to explore suitable sustainable transport solutions and it’s encouraging to see India draw up plans to bring in newer technologies like Metro Lite and Metro Neo,” Alain Spohr, managing director (India), Alstom, told ThePrint in an email response.
“These technologies can be an optimised solution for medium to small size cities (with lesser passenger density), providing economically viable, safe commute options and address last mile connectivity challenges as well,” Spohr added.
With more than 30 tier-2 and tier-3 cities, India could become one of the largest markets for Light Rail solutions, he said.
With the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation, Spohr added, Alstom will now be able to offer a significantly increased range of a comprehensive portfolio of offerings to meet customer-specific needs — from cost-efficient mass-market platforms to high-end technological innovations.
“Alstom is keen to support this new initiative, in alignment with ‘Make-in-India’ and ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ mandates and is exploring options that will suit the country’s present and future needs,” he said.
Also read: Why Delhi Metro carries far fewer riders than almost any other city’s system worldwide