metro

The launch of India’s first driverless metro service in Delhi by PM Modi was something that brought joy to the people of Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode who have been dreaming about a ride in Metro.
The prime minister had said that in about 25 cities, Metro Service will be available. Currently Metro Service is available in ten cities including Kochi in Kerala.
If Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode will have to figure in cities selected for Metro project, Kerala will have to shed its lethargy and come up spititedly to get things done at government level.

Had the government tried hard, , the light metro service would have already started operating in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.

All paper works are already complet and a substantial progress was already made.

Cooperation of foreign loan institutions were also ensured in order to find necessary fund for the project.

An agreement had also been reached with a French company to purchase bogies for the Thiruvananthapuram Light Metro.

Country’s Metroman E Sreedharan had not been ‘hounded away’, the work would already have started or at least reached halfway through.
We can only say that it was a bad period of Kerala.

The metro itself is of different types. Light metro and neo metro, for example, are for less populous cities. Compared with ordinary metros this will be less expensive.
Lots of contemplations had been going on about Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode metro projects over the past eight years.

Nothing creative happened except that years passed by with obstacles and controversies.

The first phase of the 22-km Light Metro from Technocity to Karamana was estimated to cost Rs 4,219 crore.

The first phase is 12 km from Kozhikode Medical College to Meenchantha.

The agreement was to share 40 per cent of the cost equally by the Central and State Governments. The remaining 60 per cent is in the form of foreign loans.
The estimate made then will have to revised now according to the new circumstances.
However, it is expected that the metros in both districts will not need more than Rs 10,000 crore. The government can only find this amount as the project will take three to four years to complete.

The government must have the determination and commitment to implement the Metro project.

The critics claim that the metros will suffer huge losses due to the shortage of passengers.But metro service is a necessity for any big city . How many companies under the government would have already been closed down if the government had eyed profit only? KSRTC is the first example.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday flagged off India's first driver-less train on Delhi Metro's Magenta Line. He also launched the National Common Mobility Card, an inter-operable transport facility that allows users to pay for travel, toll duties, retail shopping, and withdraw money using one card.
The driver-less trains will be fully automated, eliminating the possibility of human error, officials say. The service will be available on Delhi Metro's Magenta Line which connects Janakpuri West in West Delhi to Botanical Garden in Noida. Delhi Metro's Pink Line (Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar) is expected to have driverless trains by mid-2021.
With these new trains, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation will enter the elite league of 7 per cent of the world's Metro networks that can operate without drivers, says an official release.

Kerala will also have to change according to the changes happening in the transport sector on day to day basis.

Enthusiasm should be shown in bringing in new modes of transport along with railway track development which is an important component in infrastructure development.

The state should not be the last place where big change happens. Necessary steps should be taken now itself to reap mileage out of Centre's proposed the Metro project and turn it into the State’s advantage.
It is the government’s responsibility to make sure that Kerala also finds a place in the new 1000 km Metro project declared by the prime minister.