Thiruvananthapuram Metro is a proposed
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
system in the city of
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...
, the capital of the Indian state of
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
.
History
Thiruvananthapuram's first attempt to build a
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
system for the city failed, when its proposal to build a metro rail system was rejected by the
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) is a centre-state joint venture that operates the Delhi Metro. The DMRC is also involved in the planning and implementation of metro rail, monorail, and high-speed rail projects in India and abroad. T ...
(DMRC) in the 2000s. The
Government of Kerala
Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...
, then entrusted the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), an autonomous research body under the State Government, to conduct the feasibility study of the proposal to build a monorail system in Thiruvananthapuram. The feasibility study was conducted by a core team comprising five scientists of NATPAC and various survey teams. Topographic studies, identification of stations and surveys were the main components of the study.
The state government had initially asked the state transport department to prepare a detailed project report (DPR). However, the DMRC was later entrusted with the task. DMRC principal advisor E. Sreedharan submitted the DPR to
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
Oommen Chandy
Oommen Chandy, , (born 31 October 1943) is an Indian politician and statesman who served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for two terms, from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. He was also Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative ...
on 11 December 2012.
A
special purpose vehicle
A special-purpose entity (SPE; or, in Europe and India, special-purpose vehicle/SPV; or, in some cases in each EU jurisdiction, FVC, financial vehicle corporation) is a legal entity (usually a limited company of some type or, sometimes, a limited ...
(SPV) was created in October 2012. The Thiruvananthapuram Monorail project was assigned to the KMCL on 26 November 2012. The government had handed over the
Kozhikode Monorail
Kozhikode Metro is a proposed Light Rapid Transit ( LRT) system for the city of Kozhikode (Calicut), in India. In 2010, the State government explored the possibility of implementing a metro rail project for Kozhikode city and its suburbs. The ...
project to the KMCL prior to that.
On 12 June 2013, the state cabinet gave clearance for an agreement to be signed between KMCL and DMRC. The DMRC will receive 3.25% of the 55.81 billion ( 35.90 billion for Thiruvananthapuram and 19.91 billion for Kozhikode) in general consultant fees. The agreement was signed on 19 June 2013.
Global tenders were floated for the Thiruvananthapuram Monorail.
The deadline for technical bids was extended from 1 October 2013 to 15 October.
However, a consortium led by Bombardier Transportation was the only firm that expressed an interest before the deadline. Pre-bid queries had also been made by Japanese firm Hitachi, Malaysian firm Scomi,
and firms from the United Kingdom, South Korea, and China.
The tender for the proposed project only received one bid, so a second tender had to be issued. The deadline for bids was extended again to 15 April.
Bombardier Transportation, Hitachi, Afcons, Scomi, and Larsen and Toubro expressed interest in the second round of tender submissions. A pre-bid meeting was held in New Delhi on 20 February 2014.
Bidding on the Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram projects was delayed by the model code of conduct coming into effect prior to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
On 28 August 2014, the State Government decided to use Metro, instead of Monorail, in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, mainly due to cost overruns. Though slightly costlier, Metro has several advantages, such as easy raising of capacity, DMRC's expertise in the field and more companies who can bid for the project.
Plan
The Thiruvananthapuram line will start from Technocity and terminate at Karamana covering a distance of 22.537 km with 19 stations, along the old NH 47. Slight accommodations were made for the proposed flyovers at Kazhakuttam,
Sreekaryam and Ulloor. Special spans are proposed where the line crosses the railway line at Railway Km 221/6-8. The car depot is located on a 12.5 hectares of Government land near the CRPF Camp at Pallipuram.
The project will be built in 3 phases.
Stations would be located at
Technocity
Technocity is a technology park an under construction integrated township in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India dedicated to electronics, software, and other information technology (IT). It was conceived in 2005 as the fourth phase of developmen ...
,
Pallippuram,
Kaniyapuram,
Kazhakootam
Kazhakoottam is a major suburb in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala state, India. The largest IT Park of the country in terms of developed area Technopark along with Technocity an upcoming integrated IT township is situated here. ...
Junction,
Karyavattom, Gurumandiram,
Pangappara,
Sreekariyam,
Pongumoodu,
Ulloor
Ulloor is a city locality in the Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. It was the home of the modern Malayalam triumvirate poet Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer. The Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram and Credence Hospital Thiruvananthap ...
,
Kesavadasapuram
Kesavadasapuram is a major junction in Thiruvananthapuram city, Kerala, India. It is the meeting point of National Highway 66 and MC Road (State Highway 1). While coming from the city centre, at the junction, the MC road goes to the right towa ...
,
Pattom
Pattom is a dense commercial region of Thiruvananthapuram city in Kerala, India. It is located approximately 4 kilometres north of centre of Thampanoor. Pattom is largely a residential area, also housing few important administration offices of Ke ...
, Plamood,
Palayam Palayam may refer to:
* ''Palayam'' (film), a 1994 Malayalam film
* Palayam, Kanyakumari, a village in Neyyoor town panchayat, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India
* Palayam, Perambalur, a village in Perambalur district, Tamil Nadu, India
*Palay ...
,
Secretariat
Secretariat may refer to:
* Secretariat (administrative office)
* Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the ninth winne ...
,
Thampanoor
Thampanoor is the geographic center (CBD) of the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. The busiest railway station of the state in terms of daily passengers, Thiruvananthapuram Central (Station Code: TVC), is located at Thampanoor. It caters an ave ...
, Killipalam, and
Karamana
Karamana is a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram (formerly and often still known as Trivandrum), the capital city of Kerala, India. It is one of the most densely populated but green parts of Thiruvananthapuram. The land is serviced by the Karamana Riv ...
.
The line will be built in three phases.
Route 1 covers a distance of 7 km from
Technocity
Technocity is a technology park an under construction integrated township in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India dedicated to electronics, software, and other information technology (IT). It was conceived in 2005 as the fourth phase of developmen ...
to
Kariavattom
Kariavattom is an area of Trivandrum city the capital of Kerala, India. Trivandrum International Stadium the largest international stadium of Kerala is situated in Karyavattom.
Geography
(കാര്യവട്ടം) is approximately 14&nbs ...
. It is expected to be commissioned 30 months after the contractor is finalised.
The metro will have provisions for extension towards the south up to Neyyattinkara as well as towards north to Attingal. There is another proposal to extend the network to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
Cost
The cost of the project, based in April 2012 prices, was excluding taxes of .
The cost to construct each kilometre of the metro was estimated as 1617.1 million.
The Design, Build-Operate-Transfer (DBOT) mode was proposed. The State and Union governments were to each pay 20% of the cost, and the rest was to be paid by other investors such as banks.
In the 2012 State Budget, finance minister
K. M. Mani
Karingozhackal Mani Mani (30 January 1933 – 9 April 2019) was an Indian politician and the chairman of Kerala Congress (M), one of the main factions of Kerala Congress, a party born in the Travancore or Central South Kerala region which foc ...
, allotted for the Thiruvananthapuram project. The project will be financed in part by a 5% state government surcharge on petrol and diesel sales. The surcharge is expected to bring in 2.50 billion per year.
The operation and maintenance costs are divided into three major parts - staff costs, maintenance cost which include expenditure towards upkeep and maintenance of the system and consumables, and energy costs.
In 2015, the cost for the Technocity - Karamana section was revised to 4,219 crore.
["Road ahead for Metro", ''The Hindu'', THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 19 May 2015]
Rolling stock
Each train will be made up of 3 coaches on the formation - leading car / intermediate car / leading car. The length and width of the cars will be 18m and 2.7m respectively. The total length of train will be approximately 54 m.
Track Elevation development
The
Trivandrum City Corporation faced huge challenges for elevated
Viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
in the city. This caused as most of the suburbs of the cities have roads that don't have broader length. In July 2019 Kerala Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan
Pinarayi Vijayan (; born 24 May 1945) is an Indian Communist politician who is the current Chief Minister of Kerala, serving since 25 May 2016. A member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), he is the longest-serving sec ...
addressed that the route will not bound the
NH 66 (Kovalam Bypass) it will enter the
Thampanoor
Thampanoor is the geographic center (CBD) of the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. The busiest railway station of the state in terms of daily passengers, Thiruvananthapuram Central (Station Code: TVC), is located at Thampanoor. It caters an ave ...
through
Sreekariyam,
Kesavadasapuram
Kesavadasapuram is a major junction in Thiruvananthapuram city, Kerala, India. It is the meeting point of National Highway 66 and MC Road (State Highway 1). While coming from the city centre, at the junction, the MC road goes to the right towa ...
and
Pattom
Pattom is a dense commercial region of Thiruvananthapuram city in Kerala, India. It is located approximately 4 kilometres north of centre of Thampanoor. Pattom is largely a residential area, also housing few important administration offices of Ke ...
one of Trivandrum's most busiest suburbs
Fare
Proposed fares for the metro vary from a minimum of 8 for two km to 30 for 18–24 km. However, the minimum fare projected for 2019 is 11 and the maximum 42.
Monorail proposals
Representatives of Hyundai Rotem proposed in 2012 to use Maglev technology for setting up a mass rapid transport system in the city.
On 28 August 2014, the state government decided to build a conventional rail metro rather than a monorail, as with then under construction
Kochi Metro
The Kochi Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. It was opened to the public within four years of starting construction, making it one of the fastest completed metro projects in India. The Kochi metro proje ...
, in both Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode, mainly due to the prohibitive costs cited by prospective manufacturers.
Personal Rapid Transit
A
Personal Rapid Transit
Personal rapid transit (PRT), also referred to as podcars or guided/railed taxis, is a public transport mode featuring small low-capacity automated vehicles operating on a network of specially built guideways. PRT is a type of automated guideway ...
(PRT) system in Thiruvananthapuram has been proposed by INKEL ltd. A shift of 40% of the car and auto rickshaw travellers to the new system is expected. The PRT will function as a feeder mode of transport to supplement the metro.
The project will be completed in two phases. The first will be from
Pallipuram to
Thampanoor
Thampanoor is the geographic center (CBD) of the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. The busiest railway station of the state in terms of daily passengers, Thiruvananthapuram Central (Station Code: TVC), is located at Thampanoor. It caters an ave ...
and the second from Thampanoor to
Neyyattinkara
Neyyattinkara, is a Municipal Town and a major industrial and commercial hub located at the southern tip of Thiruvananthapuram metropolitan area in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala State, and also the headquarters of Neyyattinkara Taluk. The ...
. Thirty-five stations are proposed and the track will pass through
Vellayambalam
Vellayambalam is a prominent junction in the city of Thiruvananthapuram in the state of Kerala, India. It is situated on the Rajapatha (Royal Path) that stretches from Kowdiar to East Fort.
Overview
This junction connects the arterial roads conn ...
,
Palayam Palayam may refer to:
* ''Palayam'' (film), a 1994 Malayalam film
* Palayam, Kanyakumari, a village in Neyyoor town panchayat, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India
* Palayam, Perambalur, a village in Perambalur district, Tamil Nadu, India
*Palay ...
,
Statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
,
Overbridge
An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass'' together form ...
,
East Fort
The Kizhakke Kotta, commonly known as East Fort, is a busy commercial street located at the heart of the central business district of Thiruvananthapuram city the capital of Kerala. East Fort is known as the heart of the city as it is located i ...
and
Thampanoor
Thampanoor is the geographic center (CBD) of the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. The busiest railway station of the state in terms of daily passengers, Thiruvananthapuram Central (Station Code: TVC), is located at Thampanoor. It caters an ave ...
.
The approximate cost of the project is 60 crore per kilometre and it can be completed in 24 to 30 months.
Finance Minister K.M. Mani allocated 2.5 million in the 2012-13 State Budget for preliminary work on the PRT in Thiruvananthapuram and
Kottayam
Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...
.
The project is expected to be completed in 24 months from date of commencement.
See also
*
Kerala Mono Rail Corporation
*
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...
*
Kochi Metro
The Kochi Metro is a rapid transit system serving the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. It was opened to the public within four years of starting construction, making it one of the fastest completed metro projects in India. The Kochi metro proje ...
*
Kozhikode Monorail
Kozhikode Metro is a proposed Light Rapid Transit ( LRT) system for the city of Kozhikode (Calicut), in India. In 2010, the State government explored the possibility of implementing a metro rail project for Kozhikode city and its suburbs. The ...
*
Rapid transit in India
Urban rail transit in India plays an important role in intracity transportation in the major cities which are highly populated. It consists of rapid transit, suburban rail, monorail and tram systems. According to a report published in 2021, ...
References
{{coord missing, Kerala
Transport in Thiruvananthapuram
Standard gauge railways in India
Proposed monorails in India