Self-sustainable public transport system cannot depend on subsidies alone: Delhi Metro MD

Managing Director of the DMRC Mangu Singh Friday said any self-sustainable public transport system like the Delhi Metro cannot completely depend on subsidies.

The subsidy can only give a short term relief in the fare revision but, it affects the self-sustainable model of a public transport system, he was quoted as saying in an officials release.

Singh, who has contributed significantly in the project implementation of metro in Delhi and Kolkata, was addressing students in J C Bose University of Science and Technology, YMCA, Faridabad on 'Metro as sustainable urban transport', the release said.

He said the Delhi Metro was adopting new technologies to reduce electricity cost like dynamic train scheduling, regenerative braking system and roof-top solar power. The Delhi Metro needs to keep innovative tools to improve operational efficiency, he said.

Singh, who has successfully headed the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects of the Delhi Metro the only such successful project in the Railway Transportation sector in the world, said all new metro stations would soon be powered with renewable energy. For this, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has signed an agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to carry out projects for the production of renewable solar power in the Delhi Metro premises.

The DMRC has also signed the Power Purchase Agreement for the same for 25 years and it would have to pay only energy charges for the actual energy generated. At present, the DMRC's expenditure towards energy constitutes 38 per cent of the total operational expenses, he added, as per the release.

The DMRC MD said that punctuality is the key driver of the Delhi Metro as it has maintained 99.8 per cent of punctuality and zero accident in operation.