Do we need Metro rails in India?

• Roads very congested, slow, accident prone, air pollution. Metros provide faster, less polluting mode of public transport for daily commuting.
• However, metro trains are not panacea for India because they are more capital and technology intensive than ordinary public bus or local railways. They require dedicated tracks, underground tunnels and bridges. This creates new challenges of land acquisition and remodeling of existing urban road infrastructure.
• Gestation period is very long, before the investment/profit is recovered. Since, metro caters primarily to the daily transportation requirements of the urban middle class commuters, fares can’t be raised beyond a point for faster recovery.
• Since metro, at max, can cover only a few kilometers or few blocks of a city, it can’t become a permanent substitute to local buses and local trains.
• India has to rely on technology and machinery from France, Canada, Japan et al. But, the experience and experimentation of working in such metro projects, will improve the skillset of our domestic engineers and heavy industries. So, in future, we can utilize it for project export and consultancy services to developing countries. India’s foreign trade policy 2015 has also identified this potential. Budget 2017 also mention metro train sector’s potential to generate new employment opportunities.

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