Vijayawada metro rail works to begin from June

E Sreedharan submits DPR estimating initial cost at Rs 6,823-crore

The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday said works on the proposed Vijayawada metro rail project with an initial estimated cost of Rs 6,823-crore would begin from June this year.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) principal adviser E Sreedharan, who met Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in this regard, has submitted the detailed project report (DPR) of the metro, coming up in two corridors covering a total distance of 26.03 kilometres, an official release stated.

Corridor-I would be linked to the capital city Amaravathi and the other to the Gannavaram airport. Corridor-I extends between Pandit Nehru Bus Terminal-Penamaluru extending 12.76 km, and corridor-II covering Pandit Nehru Bus Terminal – Nidamanuru for 13.27 km. The DPR estimated the total cost of the project only till 2019.

Union urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu too was present in the meeting. The report estimated the metro rail development cost per each kilometre at Rs 209 crore.

“Whether it is (the project) is going to be elevated or not would only be decided during the capital development stage,” Sreedharan said, adding the underground project of the metro per kilometre would cost Rs 500-600 crore, as against the proposed Rs 209 crore per kilometre if it is elevated.

On the transportation fare, the DPR stated the ideal fare per person was Rs 10 between 0-5 km; Rs 20 for 5-10 km, and Rs 30 if it is above 10 km distance.

Explaining the land requirement, the DPR mentioned that 31.029 hectare (both government and private) would be required for the project. For building the metro rail depot, 11.34 hectare would be required.

“Government lands along the route may be reserved for property development to fund the project,” the report said.

Naidu wanted a section of the metro to be commissioned by January 2019.

The DMRC team predicted the traffic demand could be 291,000 trips in 2019-2020, and would rise to one million trips in the next 30 years.

Meanwhile, Sreedharan also said the DPR for the Visakhapatnam metro rail would be ready by June 15. He, however, presented the status report of it to the chief minister today.

Naidu was informed that a rapid rail transit system for Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali and Mangalagiri (VGTM) could be planned as the metro would not be feasible on this route.

However, a discussion on the projects would be taken up in the next Cabinet meeting. Proposals for connectivity between Visakhapatnam to Tirupati through Amaravathi, and Bengaluru to Amaravathi high-speed train proposals would also be discussed, the chief minister said.