Gandhinagar: French engineering and consultancy firm, SYSTRA, has begun work on a detailed project report (DPR) for launching Metro projects in Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Jamnagar cities of Gujarat state. The work on preparing the DPRs is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

The trains will be designed specially keeping in mind that each of these cities fall in the small or medium sized category. These trains will cost half or even less than the cost of the trains in Ahmedabad and are called Metro Neo and Metro Lite. Which city will have Metro Neo and which will have Metro Lite, will be decided based on a feasibility study.

In the first phase of the Ahmedabad Metro, the cost per kilotmeter was Rs 300 crore against which the expense is likely to be around Rs 150 crore per kilometer for Metro Lite and Rs 100 crore per kilometer for Metro Neo.

It should be noted that there will be no difference whatsoever in the facilities offered to the passengers in Metro Neo and Metro Lite.

Along with the DPRs and feasibility study, SYSTRA will also start work on identifying which corridors to use, analyse traffic demand, and also prepare a growth centre report. DeshGujarat