The whole world is moving away from petroleum based transportation. One can be sure that the cost of operating the metro will not be as high vis-a-vis a bus with cng/petrol when Iran is attacked by the US. The cost can only come down when more peole start to use it with greater awareness. Also, With the present emphasis on Nuclear Energy I am sure more transport based on electricity rather than petroleum "osama funding" vehicles is the need of the hour.
To say Delhi Metro is a costly mistake is a blunder. Though it is true that all businesses have to make money including Delhi Metro , it needs to be seen in an entirely different perspective. Besides reducing pollution , accidents , FE saving on account of import of petroleum products for buses and TIME , Delhi Metro is giving a world class experience to the Residents of Delhi.
Any Integrated Transport System needs to cater to the last mile requirements and once the administration can deploy Battery Operated short distance vehicles for this , I am sure it will comfortably reach the projected 2.0 million mark. After all if the planners had the Author's vision , then we might not have had the Cellular revolution , which will become break even after a decade!
The author doesn't quite have his facts right. I've been to Tokyo many times. There is no central business district in Tokyo. There are in fact multiple major districts.
The metro is not even half complete, and people are already complaining that is is a failure?
It is a big mistake in economic terms. You can't judge the success of the metro merely by how sparkling clean and fast it is. A helicopter will perhaps be even faster and more comfortable but can we afford the huge costs when something FAR more economical and almost as comfortable could have instead been put on the roads. THAT is what the article is all about and I congratulate the paper for giving the facts and figures on the BRT System. For the cost of 1 kilometer of Metro we can get 100 kilometers of a full fledged BRT system. The city and country can do a lot with the money that we could have saved thus.
So before more cities make the same mistake lets have an open discussion and not just hype to decide if other cheaper options exist to meet the urgent need of Public Transport in our crowded, congested and auto dominated cities.
Delhi Metro is one of the projects which still keeps me spirited about Indian political system. And just because it hasn't kept up with the expected loads, doesn't mean that it was a costly mistake. The problem is with the Delhi government's populist policies. The government should levy taxes on private commuters, encouraging them to use metro. It saves on pollution, and generates revenues to maintain the roads. There should be pre-emptive lanes for buses. So that private commuters find it hard to use private vehicles. Also the government could levy congestion taxes in downtown areas for better utilization of metro system there.
DMRC can take one line on lease from the Railway in Delhi, and can start metro trains at a very very low cost instead of laying almost parralel lines to Railway in Delhi. Or it can lay extra lines at the land lying vacant near Railway line instead of overhead pillars.
Secondly the fare should be ten Ruppees for all distances. One single fare of Rs.10 for any single journey irrespective of the distance, will be a boom for the Metro.
I believe Delhi Metro is the most viable alternative to deal with Delhis evergrowing population.Its ok if we have to shell out extra funds for such projects but in lieu of it we are getting big revenues too..Above all its a convenient & time saving mode of transport for masses, who spend hours in their bus jouneys..safety wise also its far better because of the lack of driving etiquetts among bus drivers in Delhi..I strongly believe that Metro links should be provided in all the major cities of Delhi & NCR
The total bill for Metro may have equalled that of 10 Boeings but the returns are worth a thousand boeings. For Metro is the Boeing of the middle class- it is the Boeing of those millions of middle class for whom home is their mecca & office their world. One important return that the article has conveniently failed to ignore is the Time Saving. Time is money, didn't some wise soul say it once?
