The capital city of Haryana and Punjab is all set to get a metro transit system called Tricity Metro. A meeting was recently called for the Chandigarh Administration to discuss the proposed changes suggested in the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) by the Haryana and Punjab governments. Tricity’s metro project has got the green signal after 14 years of being proposed. Along with this, the development work of Metro will start in phases in three cities. Chandigarh city will get a 14.5 kilometer long metro line in the first phase. Mohali and Panchkula will have 25.5 km and 3.5 km long tracks in Phase I. In the next phase, there will be an extension of 4.5 km to Panchkula and 5.5 km to Chandigarh.
Tricity Metro: Timeline
Talking about the timeline of the Chandigarh Metro project, it was proposed in the year 2009, after which the DPR was prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. In the year 2012, the DPR was finalised, and only in 2015, a revised estimate of Rs 13,600 crore was submitted by the DMRC as the total cost of the development. The year 2017 proved fatal, as the Union Ministry of Home Affairs scrapped the project saying it was financially unviable. Now that the traffic in the city has increased, a request has been made again for Metro Rail in Tricity. RITES had conducted a survey for this.
Tricity Metro: Stations
Well, this year both the states have approved it. In addition, suggestions were made to add a few more stations on the route, namely PGIMER, Secretariat, Vidhansabha, Pinjore, Kalka and Punjab and Haryana High Court. Apart from this, the Metro will cover Airport, Fountain Chowk, ISBT Panchkula, Chandigarh Railway Station, Tribune Chowk, JLPL Industrial Area, Anaj Bazar Chowk and other important places.
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Tricity Metro: The need of the hour
Adoption of Tricity Metro will also help in reducing the load on the roads. As revealed by the UT’s traffic police, the city has over 8 per cent more vehicles registered than its population. In such a situation, relief is expected from Metro Rail.