LUCKNOW, INDIA (Metro Rail News): Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra presented the futuristic vision of metro network expansion after 25 years and beyond in the three days, New Urban India Conclave-2021 organized at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow on Thursday.
While Speaking at the conclave, Secretary MoHUA said, “Since the Independence of India, revolutionary changes have taken place in the field of public transport. Metro has played a vital role in making urban transportation which provides safety, convenience, accessibility & efficiency to its commuter’s. In the 21st century, the metro has become the need for urban transport. After 25 years from today, when everybody will be celebrating the 100th year of Independence, the metro will expand in at least 100 cities of the country, extending the network up to 5,000 KMs.
As we all know, the first metro in India was run on 24th December 2002 and in just 19 years, the metro network is more than 750 KMs wide. Moreover, 150 KMs of other metro networks will be added to the existing metro corridors by 2022. Altogether, 900 KMs of complete operational metro lines will be functional by 2022.
“With a strong emphasis on the Make in India initiative, now indigenously made metros are exported to Canada and Australia. So, we should not only be self-reliant in every aspect related to metro construction, but we should also be able to meet the needs of other countries.”
MDs of different Metro organizations from India shared their views and opinions at the conclave speak on different issues such as Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in the metro, technological upgradation, innovations, common mobility cards, and construction through the Make in India campaign.
Kumar Keshav, Managing Director, UPMRC, shared his vision & thoughts on the rapid expansion of the metro network in Uttar Pradesh and its role in urban transport on the centenary anniversary of the country’s Independence. He said that after expanding 23 KMs of Lucknow Metro, a trial run of Kanpur Metro is proposed in November, while fast construction is going on in Agra. The Metrolite project in Gorakhpur has already been approved and sent to the central government. There is a plan to construct an operational metro route of 28 KMs.
Considering the traffic analytics and growing congestion in Lucknow, a techno feasibility study of six other metro routes was conducted, according to which 114 KMs of metro routes have been identified in the city. According to the Metro Policy 2017, a metro project can be brought in the cities with a population of above 10 lakhs, and there are 12 such cities in the state. DPRs for Meerut, Prayagraj, and Varanasi have been prepared while proposals for Jhansi, Ayodhya, and Saharanpur are considered.
