Urbanisation always accompanies development, and urban conglomerations need the capacity to transport large populations efficiently and sustainably. To this end, India’s cities have implemented metros and urban rail systems such as the regional rapid transit system (RRTS), Metroneo and Metrolite. They have also experimented with the bus rapid transit system (BRTS), and Kochi, with its geography, has a water metro. Whatever the mode, multimodal connectivity and road transport options are always required.
India already has 25 metros and the networks are expanding at about 6 km per month. However, metros need huge capital investments and have high operational and maintenance costs. Financing a metro and recovering the costs require the development of new revenue streams.
Moreover, India has the world’s worst air quality, and policymakers must take that into consideration when planning transit systems. Mobility challenges must be addressed while advancing sustainability, improving air quality, reducing congestion and taking the quirks of local geography and climate into account.
In order to improve environmental sustainability and meet zero-carbon targets, transit options should utilise electrical propulsion as far as possible. Where metros and urban rail are concerned, this requires renewable power, and electrical vehicles (EVs) on the road need charging networks.
Metro projects have been funded by central and state governments, along with financing from multilateral and bilateral agencies. The challenge is finding additional revenues to supplement fare box revenue (FBR). Alternative non-FBR (NFBR) streams include transit-oriented development (TOD) and value capture finance such as commercial space leasing, advertising, naming rights, property development and carbon credits.
TOD policies have been introduced in multiple states. Typically, NFBR includes rental earnings; licensing of optical fibre cables; advertisements at stations, on smart cards and trains; retail shops and kiosks; naming and branding rights of stations; and parking charges. Metros are also looking at many types of partnership. Kochi Metro Rail Limited runs a fuel station in partnership with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited on surplus land, for example, and it also has a partnership with Axis Bank for co-branded smart cards.
The Namo Bharat RRTS corridor, which is being implemented by the National Capital Regional Transport Corporation, connects regional centres such as Meerut with Delhi. RRTS trains operate at 160 km per hour, reducing travel time. The water metro in Kochi aims to connect 10 islands via a 78 km route. Water metro models could also work in other cities with similar geographies. BRTS has not been very successful and planners will need to tweak the model before implementing any new BRTS schemes.
There is huge scope for technology induction in all sorts of transit solutions, right from the planning stage through every stage of implementation and operation, in customer-facing interfaces, etc. Indigenisation is growing – apart from information technology, India makes 75 per cent of its rolling stock.
When it comes to sustainability, metros must aim for zero carbon. The Mumbai and Delhi metros are already earning carbon offset incomes. Investments in EV bus fleets and the associated charging infrastructure are also visible.
India does have a large gap when it comes to charging infrastructure. Around 29,000 public EV charging stations are currently operational, whereas around 1.3 million such installations will be needed by 2030. Policymakers are trying to attract investment into charging through targeted subsidies, which vary across states.
Further urbanisation is inevitable in a fast growing economy. Rapid growth implies that a large number of cities will require planned transit solutions. Assuming the learning experience from setting up projects is taken into account, planning for the future should go smoothly.