The railway consultancy firm RITES has submitted the final detailed project report for the proposed Light Rail Transit Metro service in Srinagar and Jammu, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said last week on Saturday (8th August 2020).
As per the DPR the metro project for the two cities would cost around Rs 10,599 crore and likely to be completed by 2024. Once the projects are completed, Srinagar and Jammu will become the first two non-major cities in the country where the Mass Rapid transit System (MRTS) will be functional.
Singh, the Union minister for the PMO, said the significance of the projects can be understood from the fact that the first train to reach Jammu and Kashmir had taken more than two decades after Independence and the first railway station came up in Jammu only in the 1970s.
But the Modi government is moving quickly to introduce the metro train projects in a short span of time and it will be cost-effective and a sustainable public transport, he said.
Singh, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, said the light metro transit system is proposed to run 17 hours a day throughout the year in Jammu, whereas in Srinagar, it will run 17 hours daily during summers but 14 hours during winters.
The minister said the metro rail lines will have only elevated corridors as the underground tunnels were not found feasible in Jammu and Kashmir.
The metro train service in Jammu will have its first corridor from Bantalab to Bari Brahmana and in Srinagar, it will be from Indira Nagar to HMT station, he said.
Singh said the elevated metro system will not only facilitate people but also have a positive impact on the economy and the quality of life.
According to the DPRs, he said, the metro coaches will be modern, lightweight and made from stainless steel and aluminium, with an air-conditioning system.