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Ludhiana to have its Metro rail service

Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

A leap forward: Documents being exchanged after the signing of MoU for Ludhiana Metro rail at a function in Chandigarh on Tuesday, as Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and others look on.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab took a vital step towards the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) era on Tuesday with the State Government inking a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to undertake a survey for starting Metro rail services in Ludhiana city.

The historic MoU was signed by Chief Engineer (Consultancy) S. D. Sharma and Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Managing Director, Punjab Infrastructure Development Board, S. S. Sandhu, on behalf of DMRC and the Punjab Government, respectively. Similar rail systems would be set up at Amritsar and Mohali, steps for which are being taken on a priority basis.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal described it as a historic event which would completely revolutionise the development scenario in the State. Mr. Badal’s son Sukhbir Singh, who is also the working president of the Shiromani Akali Dal, said the step marked Punjab’s entry into the age of post-modern technology. It was noteworthy that the junior Badal took over to explain the various aspects of the ambitious project which was described as a part of the election commitments of the Akali Dal-BJP alliance.

While Mr. Badal, BJP State unit president Rajinder Bhandari, ministers and senior bureaucrats were mute onlookers, Mr. Sukhbir Singh explained how Punjab would become the first State in the region outside the national Capital to introduce the Mass Rapid Transit System.

The DMRC would prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) in six months, after which bids will be put out for construction of the project. The estimated cost of construction is pegged at Rs.3000 crore, with 20 per cent contribution from the Union Government to meet the viability gap.The project is proposed to be developed through public-private partnership on a build-operate-own basis. In the first phase, the length of the Metro network is proposed to be about 25 km.Way back in 1999 the Municipal Corporation of Ludhiana had engaged RITES, a Government of India undertaking, to conduct a feasibility study for setting up multi-Model Public Transport System for Ludhiana. The organisation in its report had recommended establishment of a Light Rail Transport System at an estimated cost of Rs.1200 crore. It had proposed 31 stations. Most of the LRTS was to be on an elevated track and to be complimented by an integrated bus transport system.

It will also provide a variety of benefits to the city and society including savings on vehicle operating costs, fuel cost saving, travel time saving, and reduction in accidents, pollution and congestion.

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