Citys traffic woes: Monorail ideal solution

The city of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the State of Kerala, is subjected to unprecedented growth of traffic. This may be attributed partly to the inadequacy of public transport, which has encouraged the residents to own personalised modes of transport. For effecting a long range and economical solution to the transportation problems of the city, it is desirable to encourage mass transportation and increase its present modal share of about 35 per cent to about 60 per cent as recommended by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. The introduction of high capacity mass transportation network in the city would be helpful in tackling this problem in an effective manner.Monorail systemAmong the various mass transportation systems available, viz. mass rapid transit system (underground or elevated rail system), monorail and bus rapid transit system, monorail is the most suited system for the volume of passenger traffic and the conditions prevailing on the arterial roads in medium-sized cities like Thiruvananthapuram. Experience has shown that the MRTS is most suited for large metropolitan cities, where the volume of passenger traffic is very high, whereas in the case of medium-sized cities, the monorail is less expensive to build than a comparable MRTS (underground or elevated) of equal capacity. The primary advantage of monorail over conventional rail system is that it requires minimal space, both horizontally and vertically.  Monorail vehicles are wider than the beam, thus requiring only a minimal footprint for support pillars.  Due to smaller footprint, they are seen more attractive than the conventional elevated rail line or elevated bus rapid transit, and block minimal amount of sky. Monorail being a grade separated system does not interfere with the existing transportation modes. Moreover,  this system can be implemented with minimal acquisition of land and property and relocation of utility services, while compared to other systems.System for ThiruvananthapuramConsidering the pattern and volume of traffic in Thiruvananthapuram, it is suggested that the arterial corridor connecting Kazhakkoottam, Ulloor, M G Road, Karamana and Balaramapuram covering  a total distance of 28 kilometres may be chosen for the introduction of mono rail system in the first phase. This corridor is estimated to cost about Rs 1500 crores, and the EIRR (Economic Internal Rate of Return) of the project is likely to be over 20 per cent.From a detailed traffic and other studies, a network of 60 more kilometres of roads may be chosen for the introduction of monorail in the second and third phases during the period 2020 - 2030.