The Hindu Business Line : Monorail project: To cover 300 km in 18 corridors

WITHIN the next fortnight, bids would have been submitted for both the components of one of the most ambitious public transport projects being taken up by a State Government - the monorail project for Chennai.

Earlier this month, the Tamil Nadu Government invited bids for the monorail project, with the bidders having to do everything - designing, financing, building and operating the system. It also invited bids for advisers for this project.

The last date for submitting bids for being appointed advisers was January 31 while that for building the monorail system is February 10.

The State's aim is to have a monorail system covering a total of 300 km in 18 corridors, which would take care of almost all the residential and office localities within Chennai and the industrial suburbs in different directions.

Crowded vehicular population: The State Government has thought of the monorail system in the backdrop of a nearly three times jump in the number of registered vehicles (two-wheelers, cars and State Transport Corporation buses) in Chennai in the last 13 years - from 5,57,902 vehicles in 1992 to 16,58,033 in 2005.

This, significantly, does not include the large number of autorickshaws, share autos and the like that have proliferated in the last few years.

Of the vehicles in the city, two-wheelers have contributed to the largest increase - going up from 4,33,046 to 13,29,217 units in this period, while the number of cars has increased from 1,22,531 to 3,26,043.

The Jayalalithaa Government has pumped for the monorail project after considering a metro rail for the city, for which it had even asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to study the feasibility.

The Tamil Nadu Government had made a mention of the metro rail in the 2005-06 budget and had estimated the project to cost Rs 5,086.85 crore.

Critics say cost is high: The move to go in for a monorail system has attracted criticism with the opposition parties questioning the Government's motives in going in for a costlier public transport system.

Critics say that the monorail is used only in small stretches and that a metro rail system is capable of carrying more passengers than a monorail. Cost is also a major factor, they say and add that the Government would have to heavily subsidise a monorail system for it to be viable.

According to the bid document, the concessionaire can charge for the tickets at rates fixed by the Government.

The Government will undertake to meet the viability gap after negotiating with the concessionaire on mutually agreed terms to keep the average fare per km affordable to users.

Longest monorail project: A search on the Internet for monorail throws up the Web site of The Monorail Society, which describes itself as an "all-volunteer organisation founded to foster more awareness and promote this unique method of transportation."

The society has taken note of the proposal to have a monorail system for Chennai and says that, "the system is proposed to be made up of over 300 km of track, which would dwarf the length of any other existing monorail system on the planet."

Officials connected with the project admit that there is no other monorail project of this magnitude anywhere else, but hasten to add that the 300 km is made up of several systems, the longest of which will run for 42.3 km.

Elsewhere, it is pointed out, monorail is only a feeder to other public transportation systems or used in congested areas where a different system cannot be constructed.

The expectation: The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (Chennai) Ltd, the Government agency that is responsible for implementing the monorail project and which has invited the bids, has called for a system with a minimum carrying capacity of 15,000 peak passengers per hour per direction, to be increased to 50,000 in the near future.

The concessionaire will have to transfer the assets to the Government on completion of the concession period.

The bid document specifies that the bidder can either be an individual company or a consortium of companies, with not more than five members in the consortium.

It has specified the equity that the lead member of the consortium shall have during the period of construction and after the project is commissioned.

According to official sources, the bidders have to submit bids for the entire network, but the Metropolitan Transport Corporation has the option of awarding the contract for either the whole system or for parts of it.

The technical bids will be evaluated on seven parameters with the maximum marks being awarded to a system that involves least demolition and acquisition of land.

The financial bid will be evaluated on the basis of the lowest user charge per km, assuming that no other concession will be given by the Tamil Nadu Government or the corporation.

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