Strong focus on suburbs: stations to be aesthetically designed

The Chennai Monorail project is off to a brisk start with the State government initiating an international competitive bidding process to build a system traversing a total length of 111 km in the first phase.

The developer will be responsible to design, construct, finance, own, maintain and transfer the project after a period of 30 years.

The private operator will be required to cause minimal disruption during construction, ensure energy and cost efficiency, and design the system keeping in mind the future expansion needs, both in terms of capacity and route expansion.

The State government's role will be limited to fixing fares based on a concessionaire agreement. The financial bid will be evaluated on the basis of the lowest user fare per kilometre, sources said. With the State under the grip of a power crisis, a monorail system powered by a battery/solar combination is likely to be preferred.

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) would serve as the nodal agency for implementing the project. A monorail cell is in the process of being set up at a cost of Rs.1.5 crore.

Essentially, the 2006 monorail proposal of the previous AIADMK government has been revived. The only major difference is with regard to the selection of routes.

Sources attributed the strong focus on suburbs in the current proposal to a conscious push to extend mass transit options to the peripheral areas.

A senior government official said all monorail stations would be aesthetically designed, with minimal use of concrete. Initially, a four-car monorail train is expected to run along an elevated narrow guide way that would come up on the road median.

The capacity of one train would be about 560 passengers, which translates to a capacity of about 10,000 passengers per hour per direction. All the proposed monorail corridors have been chosen to meet this capacity by 2021.

Future concerns

With two metro corridors already under construction, the monorail network almost a certainty and preliminary proposals for a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) doing the rounds, operational integration of the city's various mass transit grids would be challenge over the next 10 years.

Another facet is the continued neglect of north Chennai and the lack of a viable mass transit option in that part of the city. Much would depend on the proposed extension of the Metro Rail up to Tiruvottiyur, a move which is currently awaiting Central government clearance after getting the approval of the State cabinet last year.