Creating a world-class Metro rail infrastructure in a congested and regulation-heavy city like Delhi was a daunting task. With 2 million people hitching a ride every day, Delhi Metro Rail has become a new way of life. As the Delhi Metro covers more ground, more and more people have shifted to this mode of transport.
Some 200 trains cover 70,000 km everyday on 190-km-long Metro corridors in Delhi. The numbers can only increase once another 140 km in new lines are added by 2016.
Roughly Rs 523 crore is saved annually in fuel costs whereas the cost in terms of time of passengers saved per year works out to a whopping Rs 2,978 crore, according to a study.
#2 Bangalore Metro
Namma Metro is a truly global service. Everything about it is international class: the air-conditioned coaches, the stations and the lush green stretches through which it passes in gentle curves.
Trains run from 6 am in the morning till 10 pm in the night. The trains run at a frequency of 15 minutes from 6 am to 8 am in the morning and 8 pm to 10 pm in night and with frequency of 10 minutes from 8 am to 8 pm.
#3 Gurgaon Metro
In what is being seen a big infrastructure development, the rapid metro will connect the Millennium City like no other public transport has! The first phase of Rapid Metro Gurgaon Corridor is being constructed at a cost of Rs 1,088 crore and it is 5.1 kilometre long.
It has six stations Sikanderpur, DLF phase-2, Belvedere Towers, Cyber city, Moulsari Avenue and Cyber Green Infinity Towers. The fare of Rapid Metro will be similar to that of Delhi Metro. The stations of Rapid Metro have been integrated with DMRC stations and fare is also similar.
#4 Jaipur Metro
The people of Jaipur may be able to take Metro rides in their city as early as August this year, as the first lot of four coaches arrived from Bangalore. The coaches have been manufactured at Bharat Earth Movers Ltd's factory in Bangalore.
The total capacity of train would be of 1,314 passengers. A coach of this train can carry the passengers of around six buses.
The estimated cost to construct the line from Mansarovar to Chandpole is Rs 2,000 crore. If it is extended to Badi Chaupar, the cost will go up to around Rs 3,149 crore.
#5 Mumbai Metro
On the occasion of Maharashtra Day, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan promised Mumbaikars that the state's first Metro from Versova to Airport Road in Mumbai will be commissioned in September.
Sleek on the outside, roomy, comfortable and cool on the inside, the train ride is quite smooth and and noise-free. The quality of ride is comparable to a rail system.
The Metro can carry around 280-300 passengers per coach as opposed to the Monorail which has a capacity of 145-160 passengers per coach. It will initially run with 4 coaches but would later boast of 6 coaches. The Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar stretch will have 12 stations and the trains will travel at an average speed of 60-80 kmph.
#6 Kolkata Metro
The Kolkata Metro is the first such system in India. The initiative had to wait for 2 decades when in 1969 the Metropolitan Transport Project was initiated. The master plan prepared by them in 1971 envisaged a network of 97.50 km consisting of three North-South corridors of which three were selected for detailed planning.
These three lines were Dumdum - Tollygunge, Bidhannager - Ramrajatala and Dakshineswar - Thakurpukur. Based on traffic studies, the Dumdum - Tollygunge corridor was first selected for implementation and work started on 29th December, 1972. On 24th October 1984, the first stretch, a length of about 3.4 km between Esplanade and Bhowanipur was completed, the first metro line in India.
Over the years, others stretches on the corridor were gradually completed and some extensions were also made. This corridor was extended to New Garia as late as 2010. The people of Kolkata, enjoyed benefits of a modern metro system. In today carries about 5 lakh passengers a day.
#7 Chennai Metro
The Chennai Metro project aims at providing the people of Chennai with a convenient, modern and economical mode of public transport, which is properly integrated with other forms of public and private transport including buses, sub-urban trains and MRTS.
Officials are hoping to up the frequency to one train every two minutes 30 seconds once footfalls reach six lakh passengers a day. The first set of these locally made coaches for Chennai Metro will be ready by January 2014 at French multinational Alstom's plant at Sri City in Andhra Pradesh, 55 kms from Chennai.
#8 Kochi Metro
The 13 km first reach of Kochi Metro Rail project from Aluva to Palarivattom is expected to be completed by December 2015 and the second by March 2016. Construction work on the Rs 5000 crore Kochi Metro project began in June with Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurating the piling work.
The 25-km Kochi Metro route, which will have 22 stations from Aluva to Petta, is expected to be completed in about three years time. The metro project received the centre's sanction in July last year and the Union and Kerala government are equity partners in the project, executing agency of which is the DMRC.
#9 Hyderabad Metro
The Hyderabad Metrorail is the world's largest elevated Metro Rail PPP project based on DBFOT basis (Design, Built, Finance, Operate and Transfer). Expected to carry 15 lakh passengers by 2016-17 covering 71.16 km with stations at every 1km.
Of the total 66 stations that will be constructed in all the three corridors of the metro rail, eight will come up between Mettuguda and Nagole stretch which are likely to be completed by the end of this year and become operational by the end of the next year.
Chalo ab driver thalli hoker bhi train achhe se chala sakta hai................
