Indore, Bhopal Metro Rail Projects Get Cabinet Approval

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on October 4 approved the implementation of Metro Rail projects in Indore and Bhopal.

The Indore Metro Rail Project, comprising of a ring line of length 31.55 Km, will connect major public nodes and clustered areas of the city including, Bengali Square, Vijay Nagar, Bhawarsala and Patasia. The estimated cost of the Indore project is Rs. Rs.7500.80 crore and it will be completed in four years. The metro line is expected to reduce accidents, pollution, travel time, energy consumption and anti-social incidents.

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On the other hand, the Bhopal Metro Rail Project will comprise of two corridors with a total length of 27.87 Km, namely, Karond Circle to AIIMS and Bhadbhada Square to Ratnagiri Tiraha. The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs. 6941.40 crore.

The corridors will have Multimodal Integration with Railway and BRTS Stations and feeder network of Bus, Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) and Non-Motorised Transport (NMT). The Project will have non-fare box revenue from rental and advertisement as well as Value Capture Financing (VCF) through a mechanism of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and Transfer of Development Rights (TDR).

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Once completed, these Metro Rail corridors are expected to be beneficial for the people of the surrounding areas, who will be able to travel on trains from their own neighbourhoods to reach different areas of the city conveniently. The Metro will provide Eco-friendly and sustainable public transport to residents, commuters, industrial workers, visitors, and travellers.

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Kolkata was the first city in India to start metro services, back in 1972. It was followed by Delhi which began operation of metro line from 2002. Consequently, metro lines were constructed in other metropolitan cities across the country including Mumbai, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Chennai among others. The national capital has the most extensive metro network in the country with more than 180 stations. It ranks 12th in the longest metro networks in the world. It witnesses an annual ridership of more than 1 billion people.