The contrasting choices of Metro and Suburban Rail - Part-II
- In Current Affairs
- 01:02 PM, Oct 24, 2017
- Prathap Krishnan
In Part-I of this article, the ridership of various metro and suburban rail systems currently operating in the country and how they were performing financially were discussed. The suburban systems clearly have the lead although they have the advantage of being older and therefore more established systems. In this part, construction costs, an important parameter which is considered while deciding to build any major infrastructure is taken up and discussed for the two rail systems under focus.
The construction costs is a difficult parameter to compare between two systems as a multitude of factors come into play like land, labour, material etc. A study done by IISc, Bangalore for the city on this subject published in 2014 pegged the building cost of the metro at Rs 371.5 crores per km while strengthening its existing network for suburban rail use was pegged at a mere Rs 18.5 crores per km [1]. The study also put building fast rail corridors at Rs 173 crores per km. However, in an effort to be more comprehensive, let us look at a few more examples.
The cabinet in November, 2016 approved phase-III of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) which included new suburban lines, quadrupling of existing lines and acquiring new coaches at an estimated completion cost of nearly Rs 11,000 crores [2]. Out of these, a new suburban line (which is of particular interest in this article) between Panvel and Karjat, a route length of 28km was estimated to cost around Rs 2600 crores [3], nearly Rs 93 crores per km. In contrast, the proposed elevated corridors for the metro in Bombay totaling a length of 118km was estimated to cost around Rs 35,400 crores (2015 prices) [4], at Rs 300 crores per km, three times higher than the suburban. The line3 of the metro, an underground line of 33.5km approved in July, 2013 was estimated at a little over Rs 23,100 crores [5], a whopping Rs 690 crores per km! By contrast, even the proposed fast corridor between CST and Panvel with a spur to the Navi Mumbai Airport which will fall under the suburban system, a length of 55km is projected to cost a little less than Rs 12,200 crores [6]. At around Rs 220 crores per km, this is still less than the elevated metro corridors even though the cost estimation was done using the rates awarded to various metro systems in the country like Delhi and Lucknow and therefore, has every chance of being conservative.
The Delhi metro construction cost data offers an insight into the way costs have varied over the last 15 years or so. For phase-I of the project, the 65km network, which went operational stage by stage from December, 2002 to November, 2006 [7] was built at a cost of Rs 10,571 crores [8], at nearly Rs 163 crores per km. Out of the 65km, around 13km were underground [9]. Phase-II of the project covering nearly 125km was completed four and a half years later at a cost of Rs 18,783 crores, at approximately Rs 150 crores per km, which is less than phase-I and is impressive considering around 34km of the phase were underground. However, the phase-III of the metro currently under construction, is estimated to have a completion cost of Rs 41,079 crores [8] for a network length of 160km of which nearly 54km is underground. At approximately Rs 256 crores per km, it is a significant jump from phases-I and II, although the underground network is also significantly higher, more than phase I and II combined, in fact. As for the suburban ring railway, there were plans in the railway budget of 2016-17 to revive the ailing line [10], although not much has seemed to have happened since.
Let us look at how other cities are faring. The Jaipur metro was the fastest to be built at the time of its inauguration, a distance of nearly 10km. Along with its extension of 2.5km, the phase-1 is estimated to cost around Rs 3150 crores, a little over Rs 260 crores per km [11]. Its phase-2, a length of 23km is slated to complete in 2021 and is expected to cost around Rs6600 crore [12]. The Bangalore metro on the other hand, missed several deadlines for phase-I and its cost estimate was revised multiple times as well. Having started with an estimate of Rs 8158 crores in 2006 for the 42km network, the final cost estimate in 2017 was Rs 14,405 crores [13], approximately Rs 340 crores per km. The phase-II which will add 72km was approved in February, 2014 and is expected to cost around Rs 26400 crores [14]. However, if phase-I is any indication, much will depend on the speed of the project for the budget to hold on to this number.
The suburban rail in Bangalore is a curious case. A clearly defined suburban network does not exist yet, although the South Western Railway currently runs more than 90 services using conventional passenger trains, MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) and DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) which are suburban in nature [15]. However, there have been several studies dating way back to 1983 for a suburban rail network to be built in the city and three decades later, the proposal to implement a 440km network in 2012 at a cost of nearly Rs 9000 crores [16] was approved by the State Government in 2013 [17]. With no movement, the State Government in 2016, modified the original plan to kick start the project connecting the routes - Mandya with Kengeri, Whitefield with Baiyappanahalli and Tumkur with Yeshwantpur, a network length of 157km with a budget of Rs 1000 crores [17],[18]. The original phase I proposal was estimated to cost a little over Rs 3800 crores connecting Yesvantpur-Baiyyappanahalli-Hosur, Bangalore City Junction-Yesvantpur-Tumkur and Yesvantpur-Yelahanka Junction-Chikballapur, a network length of 192km. It must be noted that the modified phase 1 was not a direct subset of the original (for example, the Mandya – Kengeri line was a part of the Bangalore City Junction-Mandya line which was scheduled to be built in phase 2 of the original proposal). The Ministry of Railways in July approved the conversion of 15 short distance passenger trains to MEMUs and enhancement of the maintenance shed at Manaswadi at a cost of Rs 357 crores [19]. While the conversion appears to be moving ahead with services set to start in October [20], disagreements between the State and Central Government over the cost sharing for the rest of the suburban project appears to be far from over (cost sharing is currently 20 percent Ministry of Railways and 80 percent State Government) [19]. In comparison, the funding pattern for the metro phase-2 is 20 percent from Government of India, 34 percent from Government of Karnataka and the rest from senior debt. While the percentage of the Central Government’s share is same, it will spend significantly more for the metro phase-2 (nearly Rs 5300 crore), compared to the suburban (around Rs 1800 crores assuming the project gets approved in full) – nearly triple the expenditure, for a network length that is six times lower!
The railway budget of 2016-17 had proposals to work with State Governments for development of suburban systems in cities like Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Madras and Trivandrum [10]. However, barring the new line in Bombay and the suburban system in Bangalore, there appears to be no movement in proposals for new suburban systems in the country. By contrast, there are several proposals for the metro under various stages of approval including ones in 10 new cities [21]. Nevertheless, the second master plan document for Madras published in 2008 offers valuable nuggets of information to compare construction costs of building the suburban and metro rail in the city. One of the suburban rail proposals in the traffic and transportation segment (Volume 1, Chapter-IV) was to extend the MRTS line (presently built at an elevation for most of its length) from Thiruvanmiyur to Mammallapuram, a little over 45km apart at a cost of Rs 4000 crores [22]. The phase-I of the metro proposed in the same document provided a cost estimate of a little over Rs 9000 crores for the same network length, around 14km of the metro being underground. While the metro was approved in 2009 [23] and has begun operations in 2015, there have been barely whispers about the suburban system. However, the metro continues to be pushed with an addition of 107km under active consideration [21] and is estimated to cost around Rs 85,000 crores [24]!
The phase-II of the MMTS suburban system in Hyderabad and Secunderabad was proposed in the railway budget of 2011-12 and sanctioned the following year [25]. The 102km network is estimated to have a completion cost of around Rs 820 crores and is expected to commence commercial operations stage by stage starting in December, 2017 [26]. The metro in Hyderabad, a network of 72km for its phase-I, was approved around the same time as the MMTS phase-II at a cost of a little more than Rs 14,100 crores [27],[28]! The metro is expected to commence operations starting with a 29km stretch from November, 2017 [29]. There are already plans afoot for a phase-II of the metro to add 102km to the network at a cost of Rs 30,000 crores [30]! However, there doesn’t seem to be anything in the works for expansion of the suburban MMTS at this stage. One is forced to wonder why.
The suburban railway in Calcutta does not appear to be undergoing any expansion either although given the vastness of its network (discussed in part-1), one could make an argument that it is better served by enhancement of services in its existing lines. However, the metro which is the oldest in India having started its journey in 1984 with a mere 3.4km section of its currently operational 27km line [31] is undergoing expansion. As discussed in part-1, the metro is the only one in the country to be operated by the Indian Railways. For its expansion, around 105km is to be added to the network, with around 88km constructed by Indian Railways and another 16km constructed by KMRC (Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited) [32]. The 88km network was approved at various stages from 2010-13 and is estimated to cost a little more than Rs 12200 crores [33].
The KMRC was initially a joint venture between the State and Central Governments formed in 2008 but taken over completely by the Central Government in 2012 [34]. The project with the KMRC is the east-west corridor from Salt Lake Sector V to Howrah Maidan, a route length of 16.5km is currently estimated to cost nearly Rs 9000 crores, revised from an initial estimate of Rs 4900 crores [34]. The increase was attributed to a number of factors including re-alignment which resulted in an additional 1.9km and delay in execution (a portion of the project was stalled in December, 2012 and resumed only in September, 2015 due to realignment indecision).
The total cost of the metro expansion in Calcutta at the time of its approval in stages from 2008 to 2012 is around Rs 17100 crores for 105km, around Rs 163 crores per kilometre. Although, the cities are different, it is intriguing to note that this is less expensive per km than its counterparts approved in a similar time frame which were discussed earlier – Bangalore in 2006 at Rs 8158 crores for 42km at Rs 194 crores per km, Hyderabad in 2011 at Rs 14,100 crores for 72km at Rs 195 crores per km and Madras in 2009 at Rs 9000 crores for 45km at Rs 200 crores per km. For this comparison, the current estimate was not used since the metro in three of the four cities is still under construction (Bangalore has completed its phase-I) and is therefore subject to change. It should be noted that Bangalore’s final cost estimate was revised to Rs 14,400 crores as discussed earlier.
To sum up, it is abundantly clear that suburban systems are far less expensive to build than metros. NDA Governments in the country have never missed an opportunity to save expenditure. For example, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, favoured building two lines of the metro in Bombay as elevated sections instead of underground for the very reason that the cost to build underground was three times higher and building underground stations six times higher [35]. One wonders why these sections could not be built as suburban rail and this question may never get an answer. In fact, if the ridership statistics from part-1 of this article are also taken into account, it is baffling that Governments (Central and States) continue to be keen on expanding the metro while ignoring the suburban rail. In part-3 of this article, the all-important fares, which is probably the biggest concern of the users of these systems will be taken up and discussed.
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