Central government proposes Neo, Lite and Water Metro for tier two-three cities

In a major boost to public transport in tier two and three cities, the Central government has proposed Metro Lite, Neo-Metro and Water Metro which will provide an efficient mass public transport system.

The proposed metro types are eco-friendly, energy-efficient, cost-effective which are ideally suitable for the traffic needs of tier 2/ 3 cities.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MoHUA) secretary Durga Shankar Mishra chaired a conference in Pune on the project with urban development principal secretaries of all state governments and union territories.

The conference was also attended by the managing director of Maha Metro Brijesh Dixit and the managing directors of all other metro corporations of India. The secretary (Urban Development) of the state government and MDs of all metro companies participated through video conference.

Mishra, Dixit, MD Maha-Metro, Alkesh Sharma, MD of Kochi Metro and Bhushan Gagrani, secretary of Maharashtra government were physically present for the meeting in Pune.

Mishra said, “India is a very diverse country and cities in India have a population ranging between 10-15 lakhs to 1.5 crore. All these cities need robust, reliable, safe and an environmentally friendly public transport system which will make these cities more habitable. A robust transport is therefore of utmost importance for the growth of any city and hence an appropriate public transport system needs to be proposed, depending upon the size of commuters and the economic activities of the city.”

He said, “A metro system which has been built in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai may not be suitable for tier-2 or tier-3 cities since the commuters are lesser in these cities as compared to the tier 2 or tier-3 cities. The very high Peak Hour Per Direction Traffic (PHPDT) will only justify the rail-based standard gauge metro system. However, the tier-2 and tier-3 cities should have appropriate capacity mass rapid transport system like Metro Lite, Metro Neo and Water Metro. Metro Neo is the rubber tyre based articulated bus system which will draw power from an overhead electric conductor. It will have a dedicated elevated right of way which will ensure un-interrupted mass transit of commuters. Similarly, Metro Lite is very popular in Europe and advanced countries. The Metro Lite is a tram-like system which does not require the paraphernal of a rail-based metro system.”

MD Kochi, proposed a water metro system which will be helpful to provide the mass transit system in kayals (creek) of Kerala coast, canals and waterways.

Dixit said, “A meeting was also convened for the companies involved in the manufacturing of various components related to the metro, buses, Metro Lite, Metro Neo and Water Metro. In the meeting, emphasis was laid on metro companies for indigenization of coaches under Atma Nirbhar Bharat. Representatives of Alstom, Titagarh, BEML, ABB, Siemens, Electroline, Tooltech, Diamler Benz, Mitsubishi, Knorr Bremse, Secheron, Ansaldo and Faiveley participated in the conference. These companies showed a keen interest in the rolling stock requirement of Metro Lite, Metro Neo and Water Metro. The large-scale implementation of Metro Lite and Metro Neo to tier-2, tier-3 cities of India will transform the way of life of commuters in these cities and improve economic activities in these cities.”