Urban Secy for use of indigenous technology in public transport sector

Experts from different metro rail corporations Friday gathered in the national capital for a seminar on building sustainable cities, with the Union Urban Affairs secretary urging the public transport sector to promote use of indigenous technology.

The second UITP Indian Metro Seminar, organised by International Association of Public Transport (UITP) in association with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was inaugurated at the Metro Bhawan here.

Secretary to Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Chairman, DMRC, Durga Shankar Mishra, "urged the urban public transport systems to promote indigenous technology", the DMRC said in a statement.

The seminar was attended by high-level officials of metro rail corporations of different cities in the country, representatives from the industry, and experts in urban development.

Mangu Singh, Managing Director of the DMRC and Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary General of UITP also addressed the inaugural session of the event.

The secretary also informed about I-Metros, a platform launched to facilitate exchange of information, knowledge and best practices in the sector. "The I-Metros is the Indian version of CoMET", Mishra was quoted as saying in the statement.

Singh emphasised on Delhi Metro's journey from its Phase-I to the current state of serving more than 2.8 million commuters a day.

A rail-based transport system is the most efficient mode of public transport. When it comes to choosing a high capacity and energy efficient public transport, metro is certainly given preference, he said.

Mezghani offered insights for bettering the performance of high-capacity public transport systems.

Metro rail networks are capital-intensive, he said, and suggested the urban administrations to come up with innovative funding and financing mechanisms to make them affordable.

Mezghani advocated for digitalisation of metro operations for higher efficiency.

"The seminar is meant to provide a platform for stakeholders of public transport across the country to exchange ideas and share knowledge to enhance efficiency of the public transport industry, especially the metro rail networks in various cities," the DMRC said.

It will be followed by a study tour of the Delhi Metro that would showcase the best practices followed in Delhi, the statement said.