Delhi: monorail to arrive in city by 2017, says CM

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday said that the national capital was likely to get its first monorail by 2017.

Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday said that the national capital was likely to get its first monorail by 2017.

Addressing an Indo-Japan seminar on monorail, the chief minister said the first corridor would be between Shastri Park and Trilokpuri. “I do hope in the next two to three years… by 2017 definitely, we will get the first monorail in Delhi,” she said.

The chief minister also said that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had already conducted a study for the monorail.

“We have come to the conclusion that we are going to start with 11 kilometres of monorail in the eastern part of Delhi and this will cover areas between Shastri Park and Trilokpuri,” she added.

Union urban development minister Kamal Nath emphasised the need for monorail corridors across Indian cities as a decongestion solution.

“I have been pushing for monorails because the new technology involved is making them much more effective. I am told that monorails can be introduced in narrow width roads. This is very India-specific — narrow-width roads — because it uses only two wheels,” Nath said.

The minister said that from now monorails would be given priority over metro. But he said states would be asked to first do a feasibility study for monorail. Only if it is found unviable, states should plan for a metro project.