Surat civic body to appoint consultant to prepare feasibility report for the project.
With Surat well on the road to becoming a cosmopolitan city, the need for an effective public transport system is always felt. While work on BRTS is going on, a Metro Train project is also on the radar of SMC.
To ease problems in the mass transport system, the plan to develop a metro rail network has been mooted by SMC. The idea is to construct a metro network connecting important parts of the city. This would be on routes where BRTS buses will not be plying.
Civic officials have started the process of identifying a suitable consultant who can check feasibility of metro rail in Surat and also identify income-earning routes. "We have decided to prepare a feasibility report of metro rail, before preparing a blueprint of the project. Along with availability of land, funding will also be an issue. However, SMC is capable of implementing the project, once positive signals come in the feasibility report," Jatin Shah, city engineer, said.
According to Shah, the metro rail in Mumbai and Delhi will be studied while designing the project in Surat. For this, a team of civic engineers will visit both cities to study their metro rail concept and problems faced, if any.
The metro rail is Bhimji Patel's idea. He is the chairman of the standing committee of SMC. Patel has made a provision of Rs1 crore for checking feasibility of the project.
"Surat desperately needs a fast and safe public transport system. Absence of such a system has resulted in congestion on the roads," Bhimji Patel said. Sources said that SMC is keen on developing a mono rail system in the city, as cost incurred is less compared to underground metro train. In mono rail, tracks are laid upon pillars and electric powered coaches (mostly self driven) run on them. A minimum of one coach can be operated on the track at one time.
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