The Delhi Metro (Hindi: दिल्ली मेट्रो Dillī Meṭro), is a rapid transit system in the Indian city of Delhi that was built and is operated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC).
The Delhi Metro was opened on December 24, 2002. It became the second underground rapid transit system in India, after Kolkata. The Delhi Metro has a combination of elevated, at-grade and underground lines.
The Delhi Metro has won numerous awards for its environmentally friendly practices from many renowned organisations including the United Nations, RINA, and ISO. Delhi Metro was the first metro in the world to be ISO 14001 certified for environmentally friendly construction.
The concept of a metro for Delhi was first formalized in the Delhi Master Plan of 1960 , and the legal framework for the metro was laid out in the Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act of 1978.
Actual work towards building the metro, however, only started in March 5, 1995, when the DMRC was established. After the previous problems experienced by the Calcutta Metro, which was badly delayed and 12 times over budget due to "political meddling, technical problems and bureaucratic delays" , the DMRC was given full powers to hire people, decide on tenders and control funds.
Physical construction work started on October 1, 1998. Aside from one major spat in 2000, where the Ministry of Railways forced the system to use broad gauge despite the DMRC's preference for standard gauge , construction proceeded smoothly. The first line opened on December 24, 2002 and the entire Phase I of the project was completed in December 2005, on budget and almost three years ahead of schedule, an achievement described as "nothing short of a miracle" by BusinessWeek.
Mr. E. Sreedharan, the Managing Director of the Metro during the Phase I construction, was declared "Indian of the Year for 2007" by CNN-IBN news channel.
Routes
Phase I of the network comprises 65.11 km of route length with 13.01 km underground corridor and 52.10 km surface/elevated corridor.
Phase II of the network comprises 128 km of route length and 79 stations, and is presently under construction, with the first section opened in June 2008 and a target completion date of 2010.
Phase III (112 km) and IV (108.5 km) are planned to be completed by 2015 and 2020 respectively, with the network spanning 413.8 km by then, making it larger than London's Underground (408 km) As the city expands beyond its city limits, there will be further extensions of the network in suburbs, because the northern outskirts of Delhi (Narela) and the suburbs beyond it (Kundli, Sonepat) and the south-eastern suburb of Greater Noida are currently left untouched in the Delhi Metro Masterplan 2021. Northern extensions would be provided by extending Yellow line (Line 2) northwards. Also plans have been mooted to construct a new line from Noida Sector-62 to Greater Noida which will intersect Indraprastha - Noida Sector-32 line (blue line) which is already under construction
Friday, March 6, 2009
The Kolkata Metro or Calcutta Metro (Bengali: কলকাতা মেট্রো Kolkata Meṭro) is the underground rail network in Kolkata (Calcutta), India.
The Kolkata Metro or Calcutta Metro (Bengali: কলকাতা মেট্রো Kolkata Meṭro) is the underground rail network in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. It is considered to have the status of a zonal railway but is not a zone. It is run by the Indian Railways. It was the first underground built in India with service starting in 1984; the New Delhi Metro, which opened in 2002, is the second.
The line begins at Dum Dum in the north and continues south through Park Street, Esplanade in the heart of the city till the southern end in Tollygunge.
The burgeoning transport problem of Kolkata drew the attention of the city planners, the State Government and also the Government of India. It was soon realised that something had to be done and done quickly to cope with the situation. Bidhan Chandra Roy, at that time the Chief Minister of West Bengal, first conceived the idea in 1949 of building an Underground Railway for Kolkata to solve the problems to some extent. A survey was done by a team of French experts but nothing concrete came out. Efforts to solve the problem by augmenting the existing fleet of public transport vehicles barely touched the fringe of the problem as the roads account for only 4.2% of the surface area in Calcutta, compared to 25% in Delhi and even 30% in other cities.
With a view to finding an alternative solution, the Metropolitan Transport Project (Rlys)(i.e., Railways) was set up in 1969. After detailed studies, the MTP (Rlys) came to the conclusion that there was no other alternative but to construct a Mass Rapid Transit System. The MTP (Rlys) had prepared a Master Plan in 1971 envisaging construction of five rapid-transit lines for the city of Kolkata, totalling a route length of 97.5 km. Of these, the highest priority was given to the busy North-South axis between Dum Dum and Tollygunge over a length of 16.45 km, and the work on this project was sanctioned on June 1, 1972. The foundation stone of the project was laid by Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on December 29, 1972, and the construction work started in 1973.
At first, 5 lines were planned, but finally 3 selected. Those were -
Dum Dum - Tollygunge
Bidhannagar Sector 5 - Ramrajatala.
Dakshineshwar - Thakurpukur.
Since the commencement of construction, the project had to contend with several problems, such as the unavailability of sufficient funds till 1977-78, relocation of underground utilities, court injunctions, an irregular supply of vital materials, and so on. The laying of founding stone was done at 1972, but consturction of line 1 was actually started in 1978. It is 17 km. long with 17 stations (see above). Running of first metrocar on the line in 1984 was a great engineering challenge. The first section opened between Esplanade & Netaji Bhawan (then called Bhowanipore). There was no connections of this stretch with two depots - Dum Dum & Tollygunge. So metrocars were put down on the track near Esplanade by crane, directly digging the road surface. Initially, only four car trains were run until 1986. There were no magnetic gates or escalators or much entry gates at that time. Ordinary revolving gates allowed ordinary tickets. The metro service also served on only single line. Two years later, it extended upto Tollygunge, at the southern end. At that time, metro service started on double line. Magnetic tickets and more entry gates also introduced at that time. Metrocars also changed to eight car train.
In parallel, metro service also started from Dum Dum, at the northern end, to Belgachhia. But this short portion was not so popular and service closed later.
After 1986, many political incidents hampered the construction, and work almost stopped near six years. After restarting work, Dum Dum to Shyambazar metro service started in 1994. This portion was served by four car trains. Two months later, Esplanade - Chandni Chowk section opened, and Chandni Chowk - Central section opened three months later. The through service from Dum Dum to Tollygunge started in 1995, except Mahatma Gandhi Road station, which opened in 1996. Within this time, more magnetic gates, escalators and entry gates were added.
The line begins at Dum Dum in the north and continues south through Park Street, Esplanade in the heart of the city till the southern end in Tollygunge.
The burgeoning transport problem of Kolkata drew the attention of the city planners, the State Government and also the Government of India. It was soon realised that something had to be done and done quickly to cope with the situation. Bidhan Chandra Roy, at that time the Chief Minister of West Bengal, first conceived the idea in 1949 of building an Underground Railway for Kolkata to solve the problems to some extent. A survey was done by a team of French experts but nothing concrete came out. Efforts to solve the problem by augmenting the existing fleet of public transport vehicles barely touched the fringe of the problem as the roads account for only 4.2% of the surface area in Calcutta, compared to 25% in Delhi and even 30% in other cities.
With a view to finding an alternative solution, the Metropolitan Transport Project (Rlys)(i.e., Railways) was set up in 1969. After detailed studies, the MTP (Rlys) came to the conclusion that there was no other alternative but to construct a Mass Rapid Transit System. The MTP (Rlys) had prepared a Master Plan in 1971 envisaging construction of five rapid-transit lines for the city of Kolkata, totalling a route length of 97.5 km. Of these, the highest priority was given to the busy North-South axis between Dum Dum and Tollygunge over a length of 16.45 km, and the work on this project was sanctioned on June 1, 1972. The foundation stone of the project was laid by Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on December 29, 1972, and the construction work started in 1973.
At first, 5 lines were planned, but finally 3 selected. Those were -
Dum Dum - Tollygunge
Bidhannagar Sector 5 - Ramrajatala.
Dakshineshwar - Thakurpukur.
Since the commencement of construction, the project had to contend with several problems, such as the unavailability of sufficient funds till 1977-78, relocation of underground utilities, court injunctions, an irregular supply of vital materials, and so on. The laying of founding stone was done at 1972, but consturction of line 1 was actually started in 1978. It is 17 km. long with 17 stations (see above). Running of first metrocar on the line in 1984 was a great engineering challenge. The first section opened between Esplanade & Netaji Bhawan (then called Bhowanipore). There was no connections of this stretch with two depots - Dum Dum & Tollygunge. So metrocars were put down on the track near Esplanade by crane, directly digging the road surface. Initially, only four car trains were run until 1986. There were no magnetic gates or escalators or much entry gates at that time. Ordinary revolving gates allowed ordinary tickets. The metro service also served on only single line. Two years later, it extended upto Tollygunge, at the southern end. At that time, metro service started on double line. Magnetic tickets and more entry gates also introduced at that time. Metrocars also changed to eight car train.
In parallel, metro service also started from Dum Dum, at the northern end, to Belgachhia. But this short portion was not so popular and service closed later.
After 1986, many political incidents hampered the construction, and work almost stopped near six years. After restarting work, Dum Dum to Shyambazar metro service started in 1994. This portion was served by four car trains. Two months later, Esplanade - Chandni Chowk section opened, and Chandni Chowk - Central section opened three months later. The through service from Dum Dum to Tollygunge started in 1995, except Mahatma Gandhi Road station, which opened in 1996. Within this time, more magnetic gates, escalators and entry gates were added.
The Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) is an elevated line of the suburban railway in Chennai, India. The line currently runs from Chennai Beach........
The Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) is an elevated line of the suburban railway in Chennai, India. The line currently runs from Chennai Beach to Velachery, covering a distance of 27 km with 17 stations. Like the rest of the suburban railway network, the MRTS is operated by the state-owned Southern Railway (SR), a zone of Indian RailwaysChennai, India's fourth-largest urban agglomeration, has a well-established Suburban Railway Network, which dates back to 1931, when services began on the metre-gauge line from Beach to Tambaram. Two more suburban services were begun in 1985 — Chennai Central to Arakkonam and Chennai Central to Gummidipoondi, both of which were broad-gauge services.
In the 1980s, the Government began planning for a new railway line inside the city. The Suburban Lines offered no connectivity to Central and South Madras (as Chennai was known then). Planning began in 1985 and construction was started in 1991 . The first phase was much delayed and finally opened in 1997. The section of the line encompassing the first three Stations — Beach, Fort and Park Town, is at grade; after Park Town it begins climbing. All the Stations after Park Town — Chintadripet, Chepauk, Tiruvallikeni, Lighthouse and Thirumaylai are elevated. The Line from Park Town to Thirumaylai follows the course of the Buckingham Canal, which runs parallel to the Coromandel Coast.
The second phase of the MRTS connects Thirumaylai to Velachery, a southern suburb. Till Perungudi station all the stations are elevated. One of the main stations in this stretch is Thiruvanmiyur Station, which is just across from Tidel Park. The elevated track between Thiruvanmiyur and Velachery was opened to public by the Tamilnadu Chief Minister Mr. M Karunanidhi on November 19, 2007.
Design
Each MRTS Station is designed by a different architect and is built to accommodate a full length EMU (Electric Multiple Unit) rake, possibly consisting of 9 cars. But currently, only 6-car rakes are run on the Line, as the traffic on the MRTS Line is considerably less than the 3 Suburban Lines, where 9-car rakes run daily. Though the headway is expected once the patronage increases steadily. The MRTS runs from Beach to Velachery in about 40 minutes (compared to 2 hours in peak hours for the same distance). The first train from Beach starts at 6.05 am and the last starts at 9:35 pm. In reverse the first train from Velachery starts at 6.50 am and runs till 9.15 pm. The trains run on the MRTS are 'normal' EMUs, and do not have automatic doors like a Metro Train. This is because the MRTS is considered to be an elevated extension of the Suburban Network and not a Metro System, as such. However, the MRTS can be considered a Metro, since it is elevated for the majority of its length, and its services are exclusive, i.e. no other trains run on the MRTS Line.
In the 1980s, the Government began planning for a new railway line inside the city. The Suburban Lines offered no connectivity to Central and South Madras (as Chennai was known then). Planning began in 1985 and construction was started in 1991 . The first phase was much delayed and finally opened in 1997. The section of the line encompassing the first three Stations — Beach, Fort and Park Town, is at grade; after Park Town it begins climbing. All the Stations after Park Town — Chintadripet, Chepauk, Tiruvallikeni, Lighthouse and Thirumaylai are elevated. The Line from Park Town to Thirumaylai follows the course of the Buckingham Canal, which runs parallel to the Coromandel Coast.
The second phase of the MRTS connects Thirumaylai to Velachery, a southern suburb. Till Perungudi station all the stations are elevated. One of the main stations in this stretch is Thiruvanmiyur Station, which is just across from Tidel Park. The elevated track between Thiruvanmiyur and Velachery was opened to public by the Tamilnadu Chief Minister Mr. M Karunanidhi on November 19, 2007.
Design
Each MRTS Station is designed by a different architect and is built to accommodate a full length EMU (Electric Multiple Unit) rake, possibly consisting of 9 cars. But currently, only 6-car rakes are run on the Line, as the traffic on the MRTS Line is considerably less than the 3 Suburban Lines, where 9-car rakes run daily. Though the headway is expected once the patronage increases steadily. The MRTS runs from Beach to Velachery in about 40 minutes (compared to 2 hours in peak hours for the same distance). The first train from Beach starts at 6.05 am and the last starts at 9:35 pm. In reverse the first train from Velachery starts at 6.50 am and runs till 9.15 pm. The trains run on the MRTS are 'normal' EMUs, and do not have automatic doors like a Metro Train. This is because the MRTS is considered to be an elevated extension of the Suburban Network and not a Metro System, as such. However, the MRTS can be considered a Metro, since it is elevated for the majority of its length, and its services are exclusive, i.e. no other trains run on the MRTS Line.
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