Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Feb 14, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Feb 14, 2006 |
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Industry & Economy
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Infrastructure Logistics - Railways Gujarat seeks Central aid for metro, BRTS
Moumita Bakshi Chatterjee
New Delhi , Feb. 13 GUJARAT has approached the Centre for viability gap funding for Ahmedabad's MRTS proposal that would include metro rail as well as bus rapid transit system (BRTS). The project, which would be taken up on a public private partnership (PPP) basis, involves two corridors of metro and one bus rapid transit system along the ring road. BRTS is also known as surface metro system as it incorporates most of the aspects of an underground metro system. However, it can be built at a fraction of the cost of metro lines, making it an ideal solution for rapidly growing cities. BRTS may vary widely depending on the requirements of a city, but broadly includes segregated bus-ways, rapid boarding and alighting, dedicated stations, pre-board fare collection, and transit prioritisation at intersections, among other features. "BRTS requires a dedicated lane on the road just like the tracks for trains. Although it does not have the capacity of a standard metro, some South American countries have been able to provide a capacity comparable to light rail systems carrying about 20,000 passengers per hour per direction," said an official. The application for in-principle approval of viability gap funding has been sent by Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB), the official added. Setting up a rail track may prove to be significantly expensive than a dedicated bus lane, as the costs associated with land acquisition for the rail track and cost of infrastructure are quite high. "Thus, this is a preferred mode for cities that are already developed but highly congested," said an official. Cities such as Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, and Chandigarh are in different stages of starting their mass rapid transport systems.
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