With Indian cities growing at a fast pace, metro systems are becoming an important constituent of the transport mix in all urban centres. The Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) has made rapid headway on various projects. It currently has a network of 38 km, and is implementing many key projects in cities such as Lucknow, Kanpur and Agra. In an interview with Indian Infrastructure, Sushil Kumar, Managing Director, UPMRC, highlights the progress and key achievements in the past year, technology initiatives being undertaken, key challenges and future focus areas. Excerpts…
How is the metro system contributing to the city’s transportation ecosystem? What have been the key achievements/milestones in the past year?
The goal of “Viksit Bharat 2047” is to make India a developed nation by focusing on economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability and effective governance. By improving public transport, reducing traffic congestion and promoting eco-friendly travel, the metro rail sector can significantly contribute to India’s development and help achieve the vision of a prosperous, advanced and sustainable nation by 2047. The metro network has brought significant changes to city transportation, society and construction culture.
Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of cities with operational metro networks. It is one of the first states to issue guidelines for a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy. At present, UPMRC is operating a 23 km metro network in Lucknow, 9 km in Kanpur and 6 km in Agra. Another 23 km in Kanpur and 24 km in Agra is under construction. Additionally, 11 km of metro network in Lucknow is under approval. Known for completing metro project at a fast pace, UPMRC constructed the priority elevated section of the Lucknow Metro in three years, the Kanpur Metro in two and a half years and the underground section of Agra Metro in one year and eleven months.
UPMRC is the second metro system to obtain energy from the energy exchange. Currently, Lucknow and Kanpur receive power from the energy exchange at an economic rate. The Lucknow metro has demonstrated merit by receiving the National Award of Excellence for being the metro rail service with the “best passenger service and satisfaction” from the Government of India, as well as the 15th Construction Industry Development Council Vishwakarma Award 2024 for the best construction project.
How are digitalisation and technology advancements assisting UPMRC in project execution, operations and passenger facilitation?
Metro organisations have been utilising various digitalisation tools including enterprise resource planning (ERP), e-office systems, computerised maintenance management systems including Maximo, Building Information Modelling,, remote downloading of train data for preventive maintenance, integrated mobile apps for various commuter-centric facilities such as QR ticketing, GoSmart card recharge, virtual reality-based simulators for training and online feedback systems. UPMRC is the second metro in India to deploy the national common mobility card, in Kanpur.
The standardised procedure for the Kanpur and Agra metro significantly reduced project time and cost. Besides, common tenders for signalling and rolling stock saved nearly nine months as Agra’s trains were pretested in Kanpur. Innovations like parallel construction using invert shuttering and multiple teams for concurrent tasks saved an additional nine months.
The Kanpur metro pioneered the use of double T-girders for elevated station concourses, enabling the completion of nine stations in a record of seven months and 17 days. The project employed twin pier caps instead of traditional portal arrangements, optimising traffic flow and enhancing the structure’s aesthetics. Similarly, the innovation of the arch girder by UPMRC for the Agra metro is now being implemented across its projects to construct crossovers, further saving time and costs.
What measures are being taken by UPMRC to improve last-mile connectivity and enhance multimodal integration?
Multimodal and last-mile connectivity is extremely important for metro rail projects. Chaudhary Charan Singh (CCS) Airport is just 92 metres from the CCS metro station, Lucknow. Heritage monuments and tourism hubs such as the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort are also connected by the Agra metro.
UPMRC received the Best Multi Model Connectivity award by the Government of India in 2022. It has signed MoUs with transport integrators to provide last-mile connectivity in addition to regular integration with city bus services, which frequently change routes to serve as feeder services. Platforms such as the open network for digital commerce could be crucial for creating a single window to integrate e-rickshaws, autos, buses, app-based taxis and regular taxis.
What are some of the key challenges?
One of the key challenges is developing a market-driven last-mile app for passengers, providing pick-up and drop-off services. Another challenge is to accelerate the penetration of the metro network across the city, particularly to densely populated areas to reduce city congestion and travel time. This requires a fundamental change in approach by adopting a model of bulk approval for entire lines/networks instead of the current practice of approving single lines. The planning and development of these lines/networks should be fully integrated with the city master plan. The phase-wise selection and execution of lines/networks, in coordination with the Unified Metropolitan Transportation Authority (UMTA), is essential. Integration with city transport, including city buses, autos and e-rickshaws that act as feeders, remains a challenge.
To ensure the sustainability of metro operations, it is essential to identify and hand over land parcels to metro organisations to increase non-farebox revenue. Similarly, implementing a TOD policy with features beyond floor area ratio and land use changes, such as additional levies and duties for land near the metro network, is required as there has been an exponential increase in land prices.
What are some of the measures required for improving accessibility for passengers within the city?
A comprehensive approach for metro expansion, focusing on city-wide expansion of the metro network, is necessary to make the entire project feasible, not just a specific corridor. This is required for the country to achieve the target of Viksit Bharat by 2047. After commissioning, a 20-30 km metro rail network in a Tier II city requires Rs 1.25 billion-Rs 1.3 billion per year for day-to-day operations. The metro should be able to maintain a good cash-in/cash-out balance with a cash inflow of about Rs 1.5 billion per year from fare and non-farebox revenue models, which would its operational cost.
Currently, the average time taken from the conceptualisation and preparation of detailed project reports (DPRs) to the completion of metro corridors is 8-15 years. Further, constructing and operating one or two lines of about 30 km in Tier II cities has not significantly reduced road traffic congestion. The construction of metro lines on main routes is also becoming difficult due to the continuous and rapid construction of flyovers. This has led some metros to build both metro lines and flyovers on the same pillars.
Planning metro routes with an initial target of having a metro station within a walking distance of 2-3 km anywhere in the city (compared to the 1-2 km standard in Europe) would greatly improve accessibility and encourage greater use of public transport.
Thus, there is a need to align the planning of future metro lines with city master plans that focus on 2035/2050 targets. Based on these master plans, different metro routes spanning 50-100 km, with both radial and circular lines for improved connectivity and efficiency, should be planned immediately in Tier II cities. A strategic approach of approving metro projects in bulk, targeting 250-500 km of track construction per year at the national level, rather than the current practice of approving individual lines, could expedite the process. After approval from the central government, individual lines may be implemented based on the recommendation of UMTA. Additionally, there may be regular fund allocations for different metro projects in the state budget, which can be distributed by the metro authority, based on the progress of different lines and projects as required.
What will be the key focus areas for UPMRC in the coming years? What are your plans for network expansion?
Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India and the fourth largest in terms of land area, will see an expansion of its metro rail network across all major cities.
Recently, the Network Planning Group approved the East-West Corridor (Charbagh Vasant Kunj) of the Lucknow metro project. For the Prayagraj metro, the DPR prepared by RITES has been submitted to the state government. The project will include two corridors – Bamrauli to City Lake Forest (22.3 km long, with 16 elevated and two underground stations) and Shantipuram to Cheoki (20.11 km long, with 16 elevated stations). The Bareilly metro and Jhansi metro projects are also at the planning stage.
