Govt of India plans light rail transit system for Tier-II and Tier-III cities

New Delhi (Urban Transport News): To boost public transportation system in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, the Central government is planning to bring a new mass transport system called Light Rail Transit (LRT-Metrolite). Metrolite could become a dedicated rapid rail corridors in cities and towns with tracks on surface (like railways) instead of elevated or underground stretches as is the case with Metro rail corridors across the country. The Centre's Housing & Urban Affairs ministry has prepared the plan and finalised the standards and specifications for Metrolite and has sent them to the railway ministry for review. Speaking at a conference on road safety at IIT-Delhi, Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs said,

The cost of Metrolite corridors would be 40% less than conventional Metro rail lines, which will make them financially viable.

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in its poll manifesto of 2019 has promised to introduce Metro rail systems in 50 cities of the country. The conventional Metro rail system, which requires huge capital investment, may not be viable in many smaller cities coming under the Tier-II and Tier-III category. According to the current population, there would not be enough ridership as well. So, in those cases the Centre can think for Light Rail system-Metrolite, which will be suitable at much less cost and will also act as feeder service from various parts of the city. According to data revealed from the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), at present 657 km of Metro rail network is operational across country and another 800 km is under construction in 27 cities. After analyzing the ridership data from some Metro rail networks, such as in Nagpur, Kochi and Jaipur, it has been revealed that they are not getting good ridership and even in some corridors of Delhi Metro, the number of passenger trips is low as compared to others. The Kochi Metro is bearing an estimated annual loss around Rs 25 crores. The official said that the story could be similar in some other Metro networks that are run and managed by some state governments. They need to find a way out to avoid such a situation. LRT-Metrolite system can address these concerns. Now, almost all cities are raising their voices for Metro network to achieve their public transport demand.