Lucknow Metro: Nawab of All

This is one of the most ambitious Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) projects of the Uttar Pradesh government which has been executed and operated well within the sanctioned budget and within an extremely compressed deadline. It has achieved the distinction of being the fastest Metro project construction which has ever happened in this country and has set a new benchmark in the history of Metro Project execution and operation

India’s population is growing rapidly, so is the usage of the personal vehicle in the last couple of years. The absence of adequate public transport and the emergence of personalised modes have only added difficulty. Hence, it is necessary to plan a suitable mass transportation system for the future demand and provide a clean, efficient, safe and punctual mode of transport i.e. Metro rail network.

Lauded as the fastest Metro project constructed in India, Lucknow Metro is the most sought after project, connecting one end of the city to another. In a conversation with Traffic InfraTech, Kumar Keshav, Managing Director, Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (UPMRCL) said that the Metro has already proved to be the most effective solution to the gap that got accentuated between demand and supply. He added, “It will provide the residents and visitors of Lucknow a stateof- the-art modern world-class MRTS that will be a convenient, safe, fast, reliable, cost-effective, environment-friendly and barrier-free mode of public transport for the specially-abled commuters.”

According to Keshav, The project is sustainable due to the availability of revenue sources other than the traditional one like – ticket box collection i.e. income from the sale of ticket. Presently, UPMRCL is focusing on developing a healthy ratio of revenue earning from the fare-box collection as well as non-fare box collection. This shall include earnings from advertising inside Metro trains, at Metro stations/ premises, earnings from property development at Metro stations, parking area, branding, tie up/associations with corporate etc.

Present Status

Currently, a 23-km line from Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport to MunshiPulia is operational in Lucknow. In the next phase, the 11-km long East-West corridor is in the approval stage. Further, 70-km metro rail network is in the pipeline for the city of Kanpur and Agra; to be executed and implemented by UPMRCL.

According to Kumar Keshav, the metro will reduce journey time by at least 50% in comparison to road-based transport with an annual fuel saving is estimated to be 39.91 thousand tonnes. What’s more, it is expected that around 78,990 daily vehicles will be off-road and approx. 44.7 thousand tonnes of CO2 will be reduced. “The Metro will help to reduce fatal and other accidents and will reduce 32.669 thousand km annual vehicle km,” Keshav mentioned.