Feasibility study proposal to be tabled at MUDA meeting tomorrow

By S.T. Ravikumar

Mysore/Mysuru: Mysuru is likely to become one of the Tier-2 cities in India to have a Metro Neo corridor, a rail-guided mass urban transport system with rubber-tyre electric coaches powered by an overhead traction system running on elevated or at-grade sections.

Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) will undertake a feasibility study of the project based on the population growth of Mysuru and also the number of vehicles. The feasibility study — to be conducted along with Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) — will keep in mind the population and vehicle growth for the next 50 to 100 years, the existing transport infrastructure and also the need to expand it. 

The Metro Neo proposal will be tabled before MUDA meeting scheduled to be held tomorrow (Aug. 13). After the feasibility study, a Detailed Project Report (DPR) would be prepared and sent to the Union Urban Development Ministry for approval, MUDA Chairman H.V. Rajeev told Star of Mysore this morning. 

Project announcement

In her last Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had stated that Metro Lite and Metro Neo technologies will be deployed to provide metro rail systems in Tier-2 cities and the peripheral areas of Tier-1 cities at much lesser costs with the same experience, convenience and safety of a Metro Rail.

India’s first Metro Neo will be adopted in Maharashtra’s Nashik. Metros in Kochi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Nagpur and Nashik will get funding from the Central Government, she had stated. Metro Neo will be ideal for Mysuru as Metro Lite would be expensive, Rajeev noted. 

“Metro Neo light transit system costs about 20 to 25 percent of a Metro Rail and has lower maintenance costs. The standard specifications for Metro Neo have been issued by the Urban Development Ministry and we will have to study technical specifications as well as other allied requirements for this corridor. At this juncture, it is not possible to widen roads that have been built by the Maharajas. The Irwin Road development bottleneck is the best example,” Rajeev reasoned. 

Metro Neo Project

According to the DPR prepared for Nashik, Metro Neo is a Mass Rapid Transit System that aims to provide a comfortable, rapid, energy-efficient and less noisy transport medium. It would have three-coach sets, with each being 12 metres long and 2.5 metres wide and a floor height of 300-350 mm. Made of stainless steel or aluminium, the coaches would be smaller and lighter. 

The rubber-tyre Metro Neo coaches would run on road slabs, which could be elevated or at-grade. When running at-grade, Metro Neo would have a dedicated lane separating it from road traffic with the help of a plinth, fencing or kerbs. There would be an Automatic Train Protection system with anti-collision feature and predefined speed limit. 

The coaches will operate on batteries on the feeder routes and will also run on the main corridors and get charged during running by overhead traction. Metro Neo platforms would be simple, open and serve the functional requirement of exchange of passengers between the platform and the vehicle. Only bare minimum facilities like lighting, CCTV and public information system would be provided.