The Hindu : Rail Buses set to hit the tracks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Rail Buses set to hit the tracks

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JAN. 28. The public transport scenario in the Capital and its adjoining satellite townships is expected to get a fillip with the proposal for putting in place the Integrated Rail Bus Transport (IRBT) system being pushed for approval by the Union Cabinet. All the stakeholder States including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard and float two Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for smooth implementation of the time bound project.

The first phase of the project is going to cost Rs. 2,265 crores for which the Delhi Cabinet has already given its approval. The 26 km Trinagar-Bijwasan-Gurgaon link is likely to cost Rs. 965 crores and the 14 km Shahdara-Sahibabad-Ghaziabad and 17 km Sahibabad-Tilak Bridge-Shivaji Bridge link will jointly cost Rs. 1,400 crores. The financing of the project would be done through a three-way split between the Ministry of Urban Development, Railway Ministry and the three States - Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana.

It is learnt that the Delhi Government has already committed itself for providing Rs. 100 crores for the Trinagar-Gurgaon route and another Rs. 250 crores for the Shahibabad-Ghaziabad-Tilak Bridge route. On the other hand, both Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have also committed funds for the projects and are keen for providing another alternative to the people for travel between the Capital and the satellite townships. The decision to link Ghaziabad was taken as the Metro Rail is going to touch Noida and it was felt that it would not be proper to run a parallel service.

The entire IRBT system would be run and operated by the Railways. One of the outstanding features of the project is that all the stakeholders could provide free land for the project in their respective States in order to control the cost factor and reduce the obstacles in the path of purchase and acquisition of land. The IRBT will act as a feeder service for the Metro Rail routes. It is learnt that the category of coaches for this project would be the latest state-of-art and mostly like those operating under the Metro Rail project. However, these coaches would not be air-conditioned keeping in mind the kind of commuters who will travel on this system and the cost effectiveness factor. The system will operate on broad gauge and will ply under electric traction.

The Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Transport), Rajiv Talwar said decks had been cleared for signing of MoU between the stakeholders. After this, two SPVs, on the lines of the Metro Rail, would be formed to execute this project in an effective and efficient manner. The proposal would now be put up before the Union Cabinet for final approval after which things would start moving at a fast pace. At least one section of the project is likely to become operational by 2006. The project has plans for providing 300 buses and 33 feeder routes at Ghaziabad, Delhi, and Gurgaon. The project has got an impetus with the approval of the same by the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB). It also planned to have suitable passenger interchange arrangements between IRBT and MRTS networks at various important locations.

In fact, the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, is of the view that the passengers, both local and inter-city, should be provided with multi-modal transport alternative so that it does not put the entire burden on a single system. Ms. Dikshit said it was high time that the IRBT project was implemented and said Delhi was ready to cooperate in whichever way possible to ensure the timely implementation of this new system.

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