India, today, is the most populated Country with nearly 143.0 Cr population and is on increase. There are 100+ Cities and many more towns in the Country. During the past 10 years’ period, the Indian Economy has been rising at a fast pace, reaching the 5th position in the World and aspiring to attain 3rd position, achieving a 5-Trillion economy mark by 2027.

India, in a bid to achieve this ambitious goal, is advancing itself and making all out efforts to faster development in all sectors like manufacturing industries, infrastructure, logistics & service sectors etc. Owing to this all-round development, large scale urbanization is inevitable to happen in the Country. Consequently, rapid migration of people to cities / towns has been taking place in recent years.

In the transforming phase of towns to moderate cities to metropolitan cities, the people are bound to reside in the distant city outskirts, many a time away from their workplaces, which causes low productivity than the real potential. As such, to achieve optimal productivity, a robust and quick transportation is needed of the hour to move the people fast and safer to their destinations within the city and the suburban regions as well.

Here, the necessity for Urban Mass Rapid Transportation like Metro Rail Systems is very much essential to stand as the suitable mode of transport that contributes in the economic development of the region, in turn, the Country. Hence, Metro Rail Systems are called as Economic Growth Engines of the Country.

The Metro Rail System is thus the superior mode of transport of all Urban Transport Systems, as it has many value-added advantages to the traveling public and also to the management / Government.

Some of them have been elaborated as under:

1. Safe Transport: Metro Rail System is operated on a separate RoW(Right of Way) i.e., either at-grade / on road, grade-separated (elevated or underground). An exclusive P-Way track will be laid down where only metro rails are run on these tracks. Further, with the latest safety technologies adopted, this is 100% safe & accident-free transport.

2. Faster Transport: As the metro cars are equipped with higher tractive power, metro trains run speedily and since there are no roadblocks, reaches the destination always on time.

3. Swanky & Comfortable: The Metro Rail Cars are aesthetically designed and built-in with all safety & security features, making it convenient and comfortable for all ages. Even differently-able persons can travel safely.

4. Reliable & Convenient: A dependable transport with 100% punctuality. Because of an exclusive RoW and the highly technical rolling stock, metro rails enable the commuters to reach their destinations timely, ensuring maximum productive time.

5. Eco-Friendly & Pollution-Free Transport: One of the important features of the metro rail system is that it is a pollution-free transport, thereby protecting from many health hazards to the community.

6. Affordable Public Transport: The ticket fares are affordable to the common people and thus ensure value for money. All classes of people are able to commute on the metro rails with reasonable travel costs.

7. Energy Saver: The System runs on electricity with moderate consumption, the energy bill, in comparison to other fuels like petrol and diesel, is cheaper by approx. 30% and therefore the management can save on O&M expenses considerably.

The Union Government has therefore planned in a big way to establish metro rail systems in more and more cities. At present, 60 metro rail projects (each phase is counted as one project) in 28 cities are either operational or under construction or approved & under financial closure. According to the “Gati-Sakthi Master Plan”, the target is 75 Cities for which 3.0 lakh Cr. has been estimated to be spent on the metro rail sector by 2027.

Future Scenario of Metro Rail Sector

Metro Rail Systems are capital intensive projects for which huge initial investment is required. As this is urban transportation within the city and its outskirts, it is the responsibility of the State Governments to establish the system in cities at their cost, of course, with partial (20%) funding support from the Central Government.

As per the Metro Rail Policy – 2017, the State Governments can establish the metro rail systems in the cities where the population is 2.0 million and above and the funding pattern is that 20% of the estimated project cost will be granted by Central Government and the balance amount to be borne by the respective State Governments. As such, the financial burden on the State Govts is heavy and if proposed in more cities in the State, the financial burden is still more. As such, the State Govts. are even enthusiastic to adopt the superior metro rail system in more cities in the State, yet, are going slow in this regard.

Suggestions for Successful Implementation of Metro Rail Systems:

As narrated in the preceding paragraphs, even though there are many advantages of the robust and modern metro rail systems, the financial sustainability of the system is often debated upon and compared to the other modes of public transport system by the Governments. In fact, rail based metro systems are long lasting and the life cycle costs are comparatively far better than other similar low cost transport systems. It ultimately proves to be the most economical in the longer run like Indian Railways.

To ensure financial viability and sustainability at the earliest possible time, the CAPEX & OPEX are to be kept to the minimum, while the revenues are to be stepped up by finding avenues for higher revenues.

In the context, the following suggestions are made. The list is illustrative only, but not exhaustive.

Some Cost – Effective And Cost-Saving Concepts:

1. Low cost Light Metro Rail Systems: All the Tier-1 Cities in India have already been covered and are spreading the network to the Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities. In these cities, where the population is 5.0 million and below, taking into consideration the average annual population growth rate in the next 35-40 years’ period and the matching traffic demand, a smaller and smarter Light Metro System could be adopted.

The Light Metro Rail System is, nothing but, the LRT System which is successfully operational in 298 places in the World. This system has almost all the features and provides all facilities as that of a High-end Metro Rail system, but less capital cost by about 20% and O&M costs lesser by 25%.

Notable differences between the Heavy Metro Rail System and the Light Metro Rail System is that the former is a 3-Car system with 800 pax carrying capacity whereas the latter is a 2-Car system with 450 carrying capacity, as the size of the car is also a little smaller. Since the length of the 2-Car Light Metro Train is shorter than the higher version 3-Car train, the lengths of the stations will be initially 80m long instead of 140m required for the 3-Car system. However, the length of the stations, though smaller initially, will be expanded after 35-40 years, when required. Energy consumption would be lesser and so would the O&M expenses.

The important advantage of this Light Metro system is that- when there is steep growth in the population and the ridership, this system can be upgraded to a higher version so as to cope up with the increased traffic demand in future.

Some other low cost Metro Systems such as Metrolite and MetroNeo have also been designed, but these systems have certain disadvantages and may not be operationally feasible in the congested cities and not sustainable in the long run.

2. Cost effective measures in the construction of metro rail system: In the past, majority of the components like rolling stock, signaling system, traction power, AFC (Automatic Fare Collection) System, PSD (Platform Screen Doors),
P-Way Tracks etc., are imported at higher costs, but now many of the above components are manufactured in India. Even the Rail Safety Certification Authorities are encouraging the management to use the indigenous products, and hence the capital cost has considerably reduced. In the civil infrastructure i.e., Viaduct, Piers, Depots & the station buildings, the cost effective construction materials and machinery are available locally, which visibly lessen the construction cost.

3. Digital Technology and Technological innovations: In the Metro Rail Sector recently many technological innovations have come up mostly helping in the cost optimization. The 3rd-Rail traction power, OCC monitored CBTC signaling system, Driver less operating system, AFC etc., – all saving considerable expenditure on the O&M expenses making the metro rail system financially sustainable. Solar energy plants can be set up to meet the energy requirement that saves the recurring energy expenditure.

4. A few more suggestions are – (i) Bulk procurement of spares, renewals & replacements of metro components through GeM (Government e-market place) to reduce costs on purchases. (ii) To set up a centralized common Safety Audit Team. (iii) Sharing information among the units of cost saving & cost effective steps taken by metro rail managements in construction and operations, in view of many metro rail projects that have come up and are in the pipeline.

Measures to Increase Ridership Revenues:

1. Last-mile connectivity: The success of metro rail systems greatly depends on the last-mile connectivity at all stations, since the commuters look for seamless transportation that saves a lot of time and money.

2. Multi-Model Integration: At important junction points, Multi- Model transport hubs should be created so that different modes of transport will be readily available, which acts as complementary to each other. Availability of multimodal transport at one place provides seamless transport facility to the traveling public and results in higher traffic revenues.

3. Property Development at important metro stations: At important stations, the station buildings should be developed into multi-utility buildings accommodating offices, entertainment zones, function halls, crèches, shopping malls, multiplex theaters etc., to earn more Non-Fare box revenues.

4. In addition to the traditional advertisements, innovative digital advertisements to be exhibited both in and out of the station buildings and also inside the trains, station-branding, train-branding will add to the advertisement revenues greatly.

5. Some Metro Rail Managements are offering special packages like discounts on the tickets during weekends, money saver monthly tickets, city tour by any metro train on special days etc., which are some of the ideas in increasing traffic revenues.

The Central and State Governments are determined to gradually introduce metro rail systems in all cities to make a comfortable and safe journey to the citizens that would help in enhancing their life standards on one hand and the Country’s GDP growth on the other. I would therefore firmly say that metro rail systems are the ultimate transport solution to the Indian masses, specially in Urban India.

Views expressed by U. J. M RAO, IRAS, Managing Director, Andhra Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Ltd.

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