Coimbatore Metro Rail: Wait continues for the green signal
The story so far: Coimbatore Metro Rail, a mass rapid transit system, was mooted for Coimbatore 16 years ago, in 2010, when the Central government
The story so far: Coimbatore Metro Rail, a mass rapid transit system, was mooted for Coimbatore 16 years ago, in 2010, when the Central government decided to introduce it in tier-two cities. However, a detailed project report submitted by the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) to the Union government twice in the last two years was rejected. This has put the second largest city of Tamil Nadu’s aspirations for a mass public transport service on an ambiguous trajectory. How did Coimbatore embark on the ambitious proposal for a metro rail? The Manmohan Singh government at the Centre decided in 2010 to introduce metro rail project in 16 tier-two cities in the country, including Coimbatore. The demand for a mass rapid transit system was on in Coimbatore city even before that and the debate was whether the city should get a mono rail or a metro rail. When former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa assumed office in 2011, she announced a mono rail project for Coimbatore. However, E. Sreedharan, the former Managing Director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), conducted a survey in Coimbatore in 2013 and said the city was qualified for a metro rail project. In 2017, the State government revived this proposal and both, the Centre and the State said metro rail will be introduced in Coimbatore.
The CMRL was entrusted with the task of preparing a DPR the next year. A metro rail project covering 39 km was planned for Coimbatore city at ₹10,740 crore, featuring elevated corridors along Avinashi Road up to Karumathampatti and from Ukkadam to Valiyampalayam Junction on Sathyamangalam Road. In 2021, the Tamil Nadu, announced allocation of ₹ 6,683 crore to implement the metro rail in the city. What was the CMRL proposal for Coimbatore? The CMRL initially planned to implement Coimbatore Metrol Rail Lite at ₹9,424 crore, covering a distance of 138.9 km in three phases. It announced in July 2023 that an elevated metro rail project will be implemented at ₹9,000 crore along Sathyamangalam road and Avinashi Road for a total length of 39 km and will have 32 stations. On Avinashi Road, the line will be from Ukkadam to Neelambur and a line connecting with the airport, with a total of 17 stations. On Sathyamangalam road, it will be from Coimbatore railway junction to Valiyampalayam and will have 14 stations. The proposal involved acquiring 38-40 acres for the depots and 35 acres for the carriageway. The metro was to have three coaches with a capacity of 250 people in each, coving the distance in five minutes to seven minutes initially.
The BriefWire