Metro Neo Rail is on cards for Warangal

Warangal: It seems like that economical, safe, reliable rubber-tyre rail project is on the cards for Warangal city, the next destination after Hyderabad in Telangana. If so, it will become the second in the State to get the metro rail facility. The news is that the Telangana government has authorised the Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (Maha-Metro) to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the project which is known as 'Metro Neo'.

It may be mentioned here that Maha-Metro team, headed by its managing director Dr. Brijesh Dixit and Director (project) Mahesh Kumar, had given a power point presentation before the Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development KT Rama Rao, recently.

Impressed by the company's expertise in cost effective solution for Metro services, the State Government which agreed in principle has given a go-ahead to Maha-Metro to prepare a DPR agreed a couple of days ago.

It's learnt that the Minister reportedly asked the company to come up with a DPR for rubber-tyre Metro covering core city. Initially the metro rail would cover a distance of 10 to 15 kilometres, according to sources in the district administration.

A delegation of elected representatives and officials from the State had gone to Nagpur to study the Double Decker system and overall Metro Project work. The delegation has also discussed at length with Maha-Metro officials after the on-site inspection. Based on the delegation's report, the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had invited the Maha-Metro officials who came up with a presentation.

What was alluring is that the cost of the project. The Maha-Metro claims that they would execute the project in a cost-effective manner, compared to the conventional methods. The Maha-Metro projected the cost at Rs 180 crore per kilometer against the conventional cost of Metro projects being executed by other States is Rs 250 crore per km. The Metro Neo project will cost just Rs 72 crore per km.

According to Maha-Metro, they had already prepared a DPR for Thane and Metro Neo project for Nasik. It's learnt that the length of bus coaches in the Metro Neo will be 25/18 meter with carrying capacity of 200/300 passengers Metro Neo.

These buses run on rubber-tire and draw power from overhead electric wire having 600-750 V DC supply. The power supply system is much like that of electric railway.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) had already accepted Metro Neo rail for Tier II and Tier III cities. The model can also be adopted for Tier I cities as a feeder service.

Against this backdrop, Warangal one of the rapidly growing city with a population of above 10 lakh appears viable for the Maha Neo. It may be mentioned here that Warangal had already covered under Smart City Project, Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) etc.

The Maha Neo project will be a huge boost for the city which has a vast tourism potential.