Ludhiana Metro

Ludhiana Metro (Punjabi: ਲੁਧਿਆਣਾ ਮੇਟ੍ਰੋ) is a proposed rapid transit system for the city of Ludhiana, Punjab.^[2] It is expected to cost 103 billion (US$1.6 billion).

History

In October 2007, the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the Ludhiana Metro project. The state government estimated the project cost to be 30 billion (US$480 million) at 2007 prices.^[3] Later, minor changes were made to the DPR submitted in 2008. Additional municipal corporation commissioner (technical) H S Khosa stated that "only a few changes where made to minimize inconvenience to the public, for instance in terms of acquisition of their land". The DPR will be finalized by the end of September 2012.^[4]

The DMRC report proposed 2 corridors. The first corridor of Ludhiana Metro will be 15.798 km long having 14 stations. The second corridor will be 13.035 km long with 13 stations. It will cost around 6600 crore (US$1.1 billion).^[5] A detailed feasibility study has been done by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd which took one and half years. The DMRC will be the Punjab Government's official consultant on the project. A special purpose vehicle, the Ludhiana Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC), will be established to execute the project.^[6]

On 17 July 2012, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal approved the project in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or Build Operate Transfer (BOT) model.^[7][8] On 2 September 2012, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal appointed the Ludhiana Municipal Commissioner as managing director of Ludhiana Metro and the Commissioner will be responsible for time bound completion.^[9]

Routes

The metro in Ludhiana will be of total 29 kilometers, of which 22 km will be elevated and 7 km will be underground. The two proposed corrdors are:

Corridor I: Ayali Chowk – BBMB Power House This line will run from East to West following a distance of 15.798km and will have 13 stations – 10 elevated and 4 underground.^[10] The stations are :

1. Ayali Chowk
2. Rajguru Nagar
3. Aggar Nagar
4. Verka Milk Plant
5. PAU
6. Aarti Chowk
7. Bharat Nagar Chowk
8. Guru Nanak Stadium
9. Civil Hospital
10. Samrala Chowk
11. Vardhman Mills
12. Jamalpur
13. BBMB Power House

Corridor II: Gill Village – Rahon Road Chungi This line will run from North to South covering a distance of 13.035km and will have 13 stations – 6 elevated and 7 underground.^[11] The stations are :

1. Gill village
2. GNE College
3. ATI Chowk
4. Janta Nagar Chowk
5. Gill Chowk
6. City Bus Station
7. Railway Station
8. Basti Jodhewal
9. Rahon Road Chungi
10. Tibba road(near Satsang Ghar)
11. Salem Taberi
12. Kakobal Road
13. Tajpur Road
14. Clock tower

Project Details

Estimated per kilometer cost for the construction of the metro will be Rs1.75 billion for elevated track and Rs3.25 billion for the underground. The average cost per kilometer is around Rs3 billion.

There will be two maintenance depots for the metro, one will be near Baddowal and will spread over 26 hectares, and the second depot will be near Gill village spread over 21 hectares. At these depots, washing, cleaning, repair and maintenance of the train engine and bogies will be carried out.

The ticketing system of the Ludhiana Metro will be similar as of Delhi Metro, tentatively Rs10 for first two kilometers and then there is formula to calculate further fares.

The DPR further states that the state government should exempt Punjab Value Added Tax (VAT) on the metro, and also charge no tax be on the electricity required for the operations. It has also proposed exemption of municipal taxes.

Also a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) should be set up for the Ludhiana Metro and should be registered under Companies Act. It should be a public sector undertaking of the state government and be named "Ludhiana Metro Rail Corporation".

Earlier, the total cost of the project was estimated at Rs105.16 billion and was to be operational by 2014. Of the 29 km, some 12 km were underground, while rest would be above the ground.

References

External links

• Ludhiana Metro project in limbo
• Ludhiana Metro awaits Center’s viability gap funding nod, says Sukhbir Badal