Railway Board approves DPR of Rs 418 crore Broad Gauge Metro in Nagpur

Nagpur, India (Urban Transport News): The Railway Board, Ministry of Railways under the Government of India has approved the detailed project report (DPR) of the proposed Broad Gauge Metro in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. The information shared by Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited.

Interacting with the media persons on Wednesday, Dr. Brijesh Dixit, Managing Director of Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha Metro) said, “We had made a presentation before the railway minister on October 9. The Board has cleared it in seven weeks, for which we are grateful.”

After approving the project, the railway board has asked zonal offices of Central Railway (CR) and South-Eastern Central Railway (SECR) to draft concession agreements for the proposed Broad Gauge Metro in Nagpur. “We will sign these agreements with the two agencies. Our officers will soon go to Mumbai and Bilaspur to help their officials in preparing the agreements. Once the agreements are signed, we will purchase the coaches,” said Dr. Dixit.

Project Cost

According to the detailed project report (DPR) prepared by Gurugram based consultancy firm, Urban Mass Transit Company (UMTC), the cost of the Nagpur Broad Gauge Metro project is estimated to Rs 418 crore. The break-up cost is as under-

• Rolling Stock trains: Rs 200 crore
• Automatic fare collection system: Rs 11.64 crore
• Information technology (IT) infrastructure: Rs 15 crore,
• Construction of car shed, station up-gradation and passenger amenities: Rs 23.12 crore
• Pre-operative expenses: Rs 4.97 crore
• Station integration (Broad Gauge Metro and Nagpur Metro): Rs 25 crore
• Depot facility: Rs 80 crore
• Taxes: Rs 48 crore.

70% of the project cost will be arranged through debt while 30% will be contributed by the state and central governments. The maximum design speed will be 200km per hour and the operating speed will be 160 kmph.  The trains will have three cars having a total carrying capacity of 885 passengers. The three cars with passenger capacity are - driver motor car 285, trailer car 315 and car train 285.

Connectivity

The Broad Gauge Metro will connect four towns viz. Wardha, Bhandara Road, Ramtek and Narkhed to Nagpur. The distances and stations on these routes are: Wardha (78.8 km, 12 stations), Narkhed (85.53 km, 11 stations), Ramtek (41.6 km, 8 stations) and Bhandara Road (62.7 km, 11 stations).

Fares & Travel Time

The travel time between Nagpur and these towns will be: Wardha 1.10 hours, Narkhed 1.15, Ramtek 1 hour and Bhandara Road 55 minutes. The cost of the Metro tickets will be 1.38 times the railway fare. Fare structure will be: The minimum fare for distances up to 5-km will be Rs 20 while that above 70-km will be Rs 90. Monthly pass tickets will range from Rs 400 to Rs 1,800.

Ridership

The expected ridership of the Broad Gauge Metro in 2021 on the various routes are - Wardha 5,669; Narkhed 2,616; Ramtek 3,929 and Bhandara Road 2,556. The total ridership is 14,700.