Kolkata Community Portal || Kolkata Community Portal - News, Reviews, Comments & Discussion

Govt Receives light rail transit (LRT) Project report, No Fresh Tender on the Cards

By Sumit Kumar, Section News
Posted on Sat Dec 30, 2006 at 12:13:45 AM EST

Like Bangkok, Kolkata, too, looks set to get its own sky-train network, though a bit slower. The ambitious mass rapid light rail transit (LRT) project seems to be a certainty now, with a new detailed project report (DPR) being submitted to the state transport department on Friday.

The report for the Rs 4,000-crore plan was prepared by the Delhi-based consultancy firm, Consulting Engineering Services. The state government wants to kick off the project in early-2007.

Gov
After a nudge from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the project was recently brought under the Centre's National Urban Renewal Mission and the DPR was prepared in accordance with NURM guidelines. CES was engaged by the state after the project's inclusion in NURM. Being a NURM project, 35% of the project cost would be borne by the Centre.

CES managing director S S Chakraborty, who reached Kolkata on Friday to submit the report,said the DPR was prepared in six weeks and incorporates some technical modifications to the earlier one. "Plans for passenger count as well as transit and transfer points were revised and revalidated. We have, however, retained the basic technology and alignment plan," Chakraborty said.

The state government will now submit the DPR to the Centre for its approval. However, the state is against floating another tender for the project. So, all firms shortlisted earlier will be considered again.

Chakraborty said that considering the city's traffic scenario, the mass rapid transit system is urgently required to ease the burden of Kolkata's roads. In five years, city roads will be completely chocked with vehicular traffic.

The LRT, under the revised plan, will carry about 20,000 passengers an hour in each direction. During peak hours, this figure could reach 25,000 passengers.

The initial 24 km LRT route from Joka to Shyambazar will have a four-phase fare structure Rs 6, Rs 8, Rs 10 and Rs 15. The route will be extended to Panihati in the second phase. The plan provides for 24 LRT stations, the distance between each being one km. The infrastructure cost for each kilometre will be about Rs 105 crore.

The system would operate at a frequency of four minutes, and this would be reduced to two minutes later. About 70% of the LRT's track length would be elevated at least 21 feet above surface level.

The entire project, to be implemented in phases, will have nine routes spanning 95 km. The total cost run into thousands of crores.

(Source-Times Of India,30/12/06)

< Govt considering recognition for private Urdu medium schools | Repair of National Highway-34 begins >