Page 13 - CO April 2017 Full Issue

Powered by COVER STORY METRO RUSH With more than 50000 vehicles getting registered daily for a forms of transport. “Metros require population now slated to reach 1.5 billion by 2030, we are on the • 1/5thof energy per passenger km compared to road-based brink of a mobility and pollution catastrophe. systems It’s no wonder then metro rail projects in India have recently • Tey can reduce journey time by anything between 50 per cent witnessed tremendous growth with 325 km in operation now and and 75 per cent depending on road conditions more than 500 kms under construction. • Can carry the same amount of trafc as 7 lanes of bus trafc Metro rail, despite being rather expensive to construct and more or 24 lanes of private motor cars (either way), if it is a medium susceptible to operating losses, still ofer a more viable transportation capacity system. solution for many Indians who end up spending over 100 minutes • Cause no air pollution and reduce noise levels” everyday driving their cars. In contrast, Delhi metro single handedly • Tey occupy no road space if underground and only about 2 carries 30 lakh passengers daily. According to meter width of the road if elevated. India’s metro man, Dr. E. Sreedharan, “Tis is • And they are more reliable, comfortable and safer than road equivalent to almost 3 lakh vehicles of the road, based systems.” with every commuter on the Delhi Metro saving S V Desai, Executive Vice President & Head – Heavy Civil about 56 minutes in an up and down Infrastructure, L&T Construction pegs the metro journey and saving the exchequer market in India at about `25,000 Crores. “Te import of nearly 3 lakh Tons of fossil Union Government intents to invest about `1.2 fuel every year.”’ Lakh Crore for the construction of metro systems While Pankaj Kumar Bansal, Managing Director, across 15 cities over the next 5 – 7 years and this Chennai Metro Rail Ltd., metro concurs with an will provide further impetus to the market.”, he interesting comparison between metros and other adds. aPrIL 2017 |construction opportunities 13