Kolkata LRTS | Proposed

[Ashis Mitra]

Metro Line 3, which was proposed from Dakshineshwar (in north) to Thakurpukur (in south) may not construct, because 1) Line 1 will extend from Dumdum to Dakshineshwar.
2) A light rail line (not tram line) may be run from Barrackpur (in north) to Joka (in south) in future, which will mostly follow the proposed line 3. The common route with metro will be from Baranagar to Shialdaha, and from Behala to Joka.

The ambitious light rail line from Barrackpur to Joka may run via Baranagar, Shyambazar, Rajabazar, Shialdaha, Esplanade, Majherhat and Behala. Will then the tram tracks from Shyambazar to Mominpur closed, or just updated from tram to light rail standard?

I think that light rail will use overhead wire. Am I right?

[arijeetb]

Originally Posted by Ashis Mitra

Metro Line 3, which was proposed from Dakshineshwar (in north) to Thakurpukur (in south) may not construct, because 1) Line 1 will extend from Dumdum to Dakshineshwar.
2) A light rail line (not tram line) may be run from Barrackpur (in north) to Joka (in south) in future, which will mostly follow the proposed line 3. The common route with metro will be from Baranagar to Shialdaha, and from Behala to Joka.

The ambitious light rail line from Barrackpur to Joka may run via Baranagar, Shyambazar, Rajabazar, Shialdaha, Esplanade, Majherhat and Behala. Will then the tram tracks from Shyambazar to Mominpur closed, or just updated from tram to light rail standard?

I think that light rail will use overhead wire. Am I right?

Light rail will use elevated tracks that would run over existing roads. There is nothing to be updated from tram standards. Not sure about North Kolkata but from Joka and up north till Taratala it makes no sense to run trams.

[Kewl Batty]

Originally Posted by kolkatausa

they are talking about the monorail not the LRTS. The LRTS will be the first in the country.

besides the source is Indiaexpress...haha....not sure we can trust them.

LOL!! mabbe.. But this is not really "the first" LRTS proposed.... Already a Rubber tyred LRTS has been proposed by DLF for gurgaon and is on the verge of approval (corridors were suggested by RITES)..

neway, lets hope this doesnt get stuck anywhere and lets see it proceed at a gud pace!!

[Ashis Mitra]

Originally Posted by arijeetb

Light rail will use elevated tracks that would run over existing roads. There is nothing to be updated from tram standards. Not sure about North Kolkata but from Joka and up north till Taratala it makes no sense to run trams.

My hope, there should not be any clash between tram, metro & light rail in future, because all these transports are pollution free, which is essential for a polluted city like Kolkata.

However, people from Mominpur to Joka may be happy, because light rail will partly foreget their tram closure sorrows.

Tram line to Joka has closed for converting D.H. Road from state highway to national highway, and a NH should not carry tram.

But should a NH carry illegal hawkers, auto-rickshaws etc?

I think that light rail will use overhead wire. Am I right?

[vamsireddy]

Originally Posted by Ashis Mitra

Metro Line 3, which was proposed from Dakshineshwar (in north) to Thakurpukur (in south) may not construct, because 1) Line 1 will extend from Dumdum to Dakshineshwar.
2) A light rail line (not tram line) may be run from Barrackpur (in north) to Joka (in south) in future, which will mostly follow the proposed line 3. The common route with metro will be from Baranagar to Shialdaha, and from Behala to Joka.

The ambitious light rail line from Barrackpur to Joka may run via Baranagar, Shyambazar, Rajabazar, Shialdaha, Esplanade, Majherhat and Behala. Will then the tram tracks from Shyambazar to Mominpur closed, or just updated from tram to light rail standard?

I think that light rail will use overhead wire. Am I right?

[kolkatausa]

Originally Posted by vamsireddy

god's pool = thakurpukur

[Ashis Mitra]

I think that light rail will use overhead wire. Am I right?

Is there any official site of Kolkata light rail?

Wikipedia informs that along this light rail system, Kolkata will also construct a monorail system from Newtown to Bajbaj. Construction will start from March 2009.

So I hope, Kolkata will get four electric rail transit in future - tram, metro, lightrail & monorail. Then Kolkata will be unique in India as transportation.

[arijeetb]

Originally Posted by Ashis Mitra

I think that light rail will use overhead wire. Am I right?

Is there any official site of Kolkata light rail?

Wikipedia informs that along this light rail system, Kolkata will also construct a monorail system from Newtown to Bajbaj. Construction will start from March 2009.

So I hope, Kolkata will get four electric rail transit in future - tram, metro, lightrail & monorail. Then Kolkata will be unique in India as transportation.

if the monorail venture becomes a reality in the next 5 years or so, we can see a new CBD developing with Batanagar as the hub.

[Ashis Mitra]

Is there any official site of Kolkata light rail?

[kolkatausa]

Originally Posted by Ashis Mitra

Is there any official site of Kolkata light rail?

yes. top secret as of now.

[Bombay2Calcutta]

Are their any latest updates on on this Project. On 12th June SREI's Mr Kanoria said that it was progressing as per schedule.
Does any body knows's if they have already started work on it ?

[sidney_jec]

Telegraph

Project report hurdle on light rail path
A STAFF REPORTER
The chief minister at the launch of the Light Rail Transit. A Telegraph picture

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s dream project for the city — the Light Rail Transit System — seems to be in limbo for want of a detailed project report.

Almost five months have passed since the chief minister launched the project, but Consulting Engineering Services (CES), which is supposed to carry out work for the report, is yet to get a letter from Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited, the principal promoter of the project.

The document holds the key to the project because it will outline all relevant details, including the terms of reference and how the work will be executed.

“We are yet to receive a letter from Srei asking us to start work for the report,” said S.S. Chakraborty, the chairman-cum-managing director of CES.

The chief minister, while launching the project on February 18, had set a five-year deadline but the delay in preparing the report has left transport department officials wondering when work will finally start and when the 40km route from Joka to Barrackpore will be commissioned.

Senior officials of the state government have held a few meetings, including two in Delhi, to get the “stuck” project rolling, but that has not helped. Frustrated, the CES has shot off letters to chief secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti seeking a way out.

Srei, however, maintains the project is on track. “Things are under control and there is nothing to be worried about,” said Braj Kishore, the vice-president of the company. “As for the letter (to CES on starting work for the project report), I wouldn’t comment.”

The company’s chairman-cum-managing director, Hemant Kanoria, couldn’t be contacted.

The Light Rail Transit, to run on elevated tracks across 37 stations, is set to be India’s first-of-its-kind mass transport system. A consortium led by Srei, in association with the West Bengal Transport Infrastructure Development Limited, has been awarded the contract to execute the Rs 6,000-crore project.

Realising the importance of the project in a city starved of road space, the chief minister had called for speedy execution.

“A Special Purpose Vehicle for the project has been created and we can’t wait. The detailed project report has to be completed by this year so real work can start from 2010,” the chief minister had said. Transport department officials said it was Srei’s responsibility to write to the CES seeking the report and foot the bill for the preparatory work. Experts said around Rs 5-6 crore would be required to prepare the report.

* The points the report would cover include:
* Survey report of the 40km stretch
* Location and type of stations to be built
* How to connect the route with that of the East-West Metro
* Passenger disposal system at the stations

[todscreen]

i don't approve of a LRTS in the city. we already have too many tracks to begin with. kolkata is beyond well connected. what we need now is world class coaches from europe.

[Ashis Mitra]

I support light rail, but construction yet not started either from Barrackpur or from Joka. I think it was an Assembly Election stunt.

[bhatasuj]

I guess the construction are suppose to be started from next year. This year they are suppose to submit the plan containing the every single details. I hope this will not be a gimmick and construction will start from next year.

Btw - any update between Srei and CES tussle.

[Ashis Mitra]

Thanx for your hope. I'm also and optimist.

[Bombay2Calcutta]

Source : TOI
LRT project may hit land hurdle
Suman Chakraborti | TNN

Kolkata: The Rs 6,000 crore Barrackpore-Joka light rail transit (LRT) project — “inaugurated” by chief minister before the Lok Sabha polls — has got into a land acquisition muddle. After the Vedic Village scam and scrapping of the IT hub project at Rajarhat, it would be extremely difficult for the government to identify and hand over several hundred acres, to the developers.
Against the huge project cost to be borne by the private company, former transport minister Subhas Chakraborty had promised that the state would hand over about 250 acres to the developer — Srei Infrastructure Finance Limited, which along with its technical partner Amex Corporation would execute the project — to set up a township.
However, with the state government now facing trouble over land acquisition, it is uncertain whether the government would actually be able to find out so much of land within the city or its surroundings.
According to the MoU inked by the state and Srei, the developer would get 20% of the project cost as cross-subsidy. Chakraborty had promised to pay this cross-subsidy in the form of 250 acres of land. While some officials maintained that handing over land for the project will not be a problem, some others didn’t agree with that.
“People may be wondering where this land will come from. About 300 acre is lying vacant at the Joka end. Also, there is a closed factory at the Barrackpore end where 40 acre of land might be available,” said an official. But in the present scenario, it might not be easy for the government to acquire the land.
Asked to comment on the problem, state transport minister Ranjit Kundu skirted the acquisition issue and said, whatever problem the project was facing would be resolved soon.
Apart from land acquisition difficulties, it would take at least six more months to complete the detailed project report, officials said. This means, work on the project will not start before March next year, if the government can solve the problems related to land by then. It would also mean an escalation of the project cost.

[todscreen]

atleast they are planning on having one.

but i don't see how it is plausible given that the metro already runs the same lenght. extending the metro would be a better plan.

[sidney_jec]

From todays Telegraph

Light rail system for swift commute
SANJAY MANDAL



Calcutta is poised to travel light — literally — as part of a modified version of the rapid-transit rail network promised in Mamata Banerjee’s budget.

The city’s first Light Rail Transit (LRT) system will connect Majherhat, Joka, Budge Budge, Garden Reach and Diamond Harbour in the south —a circular stretch of around 80km — to the Metro and suburban railway networks.

The original plan was to expand the Metro Railway network but a preliminary feasibility study indicated that an LRT system would be more suitable given the topography and availability of land. A light rail transit system generally has lower capacity than conventional trains. The rakes resemble modern trams but are much faster and quieter.

“The route survey is underway,” a Railway Board official told Metro from New Delhi.

Metro Railway, which is conducting the survey, will submit its report to the Railway Board. “We hope to complete the task in two months,” a Metro official said.

The Majherhat-Joka stretch, which is around 8km, has already been surveyed.

The 80km route (see chart) will begin at Majherhat, touch Joka and reach Diamond Harbour before taking an about-turn to Budge Budge, from where it will head towards Garden Reach and Kidderpore. The route will culminate at Rabindra Sarobar after crossing Tolly’s Nullah, where there will be a passenger interchange with Metro and the suburban railway network of Eastern Railway’s Sealdah-Budge Budge section.

According to a railway official, the LRT project will not only ease traffic congestion on Diamond Harbour Road but also curb pollution.

He said the project cost of close to Rs 3,000 crore would have been higher had the route been included in the Metro rail network. “We would have also faced problems in setting up track connections and a maintenance depot for rakes.”

[todscreen]

does that make any sense? why would the LRT go all the way down to raichak? who would use it then? or are they planning on creating another Kolkata growth sprout down down south?