EVEN as traffic gets tied up in increasingly tangled knots, plans are afoot to set up a Light Rail Transport System (LRTS) in the city. Pitted against the much-debated skybus project, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is poised to issue global tenders to set up a skytrain between Andheri and Ghatkopar stations. With both projects covering the same route, it is still anybody’s guess whether Mumbai will get a skybus or skytrain as an alternative transport system as potential investors will be offered both options before the Maharashtra government takes a final decision.
Both projects — the skybus is proposed to be built by the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd — will be operated on a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis.
Unlike the skybus, which is suspended from an elevated track, the skytrain will run on rails laid on the surface of the track.
According to a senior state government official, the skybus is a cheaper option as the project will cost an estimated Rs 100 crore against the Rs 150 crore for the skytrain.
However, the official says, the skytrain is a tried and tested means of transport, having been implemented in 140 cities across the world. For the skybus, on the other hand, there is no precedent. ‘‘It is a question of whether people will feel safe travelling in a vehicle which is suspended rather than one which runs on rail tracks,’’ says the official.
Also, he says, while the skytrain can accommodate 350 passengers per coach or 17,680 passengers per hour in one direction, the skybus can carry only 125 passengers at one go, or 23,000 passengers per hour in one direction.
Apart from the LRTS, urban planners are formulating other major projects aimed at strengthening the public transport system. Elevated roads like those in Hong Kong and an underground metro rail system connecting South Mumbai and the Bandra Complex are among the proposals being discussed. Apart from these, additional projects have been proposed under the World Bank-aided Mumbai Urban Transport Project-II.
Development projects such as these may receive a further boost, with the state Cabinet on October 30 approving a proposal to amend the MMRDA act, 1974. Should the amendment be passed in the state legislature, the MMRDA will make the transition from a mere planning body to an implementing agency.