Cost effective Metro rails

Why in news?

Foreign investment has been invited for metro rail projects and 50 cities in India are ready to implement metro rail projects.

What is the need for metro rail?

• For faster connectivity of the nodal points in the cities.
• To Reduce the traffic drastically.
• To provide safer public transports.
• To make public transport more environment friendly.

What are the real-time advantages of metro rails?

• Metro rails are efficient in high traffic routes.
• Metro rails can make use of underground routes.
• Reduced pollution when compared to bus trips.
• The metro rails are long lasting.

What are the cost factors of metro rails?

• Metro rails are hugely expensive to build.
• A kilometre of metro rail requires an investment of around Rs.200 crores.
• Buses, which require under 5 per cent of the investment needed for metro rail can carry 40 per cent more passengers.

How metro rails can be made cost effective?

• Connectivity to the metro rail stations need to be planned properly.
• The low occupancy should go up and cost per passenger trip should go down.
• For cost of a metro rail to slowly become affordable, it should keep growing.
• Funding should be drawn from foreign and indigenous agencs.
• Metro rails need not remain a high tech, but can be made cost effective and reliable.
• The success of metro rail lies on involvement of multi modes of transport.

Source: Business Line