For quite some time a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) has been discussed for the Chennai metro. Chennai, more than other large cities, is made for CUMTA due to the preponderance of personal transport for commuting. Chennai has a total of 54 lakh vehicles comprising of 45 lakh two-wheelers, 8.6 lakh passenger vehicles and the balance commercial vehicles. This is against a population of the greater Chennai area of around 1.12 crore.
The aggressive marketing of personal vehicles and improved income levels combined with the poor transport infrastructure have resulted in the overdependence on personal conveyance. Today this is impacted by crowded roads and result in a high rate of accidents (Tamil Nadu tops in casualties from road accidents). The steep increase in the price of petrol plus the commitments for zero emission accentuate the problem.
Experts on mobility like Dr V Sumantran with decades of experience with the automobile industry, are suggesting mass mobility solutions. These demand much higher levels of public transport infrastructure.
CHENNAI PIONEERED THE ELEVATED MRTS
In India, Chennai pioneered the concept of Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS). As early as in the 1980s, the MRTS was conceived and aligned for large parts with the Buckingham Canal to connect the central business district with crowded habitats in south Chennai. The alignment obviated the need for acquisition of expensive land. The first phase was from Madras Beach to Mylapore (8.55 km). In line with the experience of poor planning and inadequate funding resulted in delays and consequent steep increase in costs from the original estimate of Rs 55 crore to Rs 269 crore.
Intense competition from the state-owned bus transport system with hefty subsidised fare, denied the expected traffic for the MRTS and resulted in hefty losses for the railway. eg. the initial fare from Triplicane to Parrys by the state transport was 50p against the minimum fare charged of Rs 2 by MRTS. There was the added discomfort of climbing and descending the poorly lit and poorly maintained elevated stations. Poor traffic resulted in less frequent trips which in turn contributed to poor custom. MRTS was treated alien and did not receive attention or support by the state leadership.
There was also a change in policy. In the Economic Editor’s Conference of 1987 at Delhi organised annually by the PIB, Railway Minister Madhavrao Scindia referred to the imperative for the concerned state government to share the cost of urban railway systems. There was appreciation of this imperative as the beneficiaries are commuters of the concerned metro. By the highly popular suburban rail systems of Mumbai metro, the Maharashtra government agreed to share the cost of the Thane-Belapur line. This was constructed in less than four years and was inaugurated by then President R Venkataraman.
In contrast, Tamil Nadu resisted this scheme. On return from the EEC conference in Delhi I raised this issue with then Chief Minister MGR at his press conference on the state budget. MGR summerly dismissed the idea holding that railway projects should be the sole responsibility of the Centre.
This stance delayed the extension of the line of 11.4 km from Mylapore to Velachery as also resulted in a humongous escalation in costs. The idea of constructing the railway stations with large commercial space on expectations of large custom due to the IT boom was also belied. For a couple of decades, the MRTS continued to be unviable. This problem was further compounded by the top administration from Chief General Manager and his team of senior officers manned for a large part by officials from outside Chennai metro. Most of these were not familiar with the requirements of commuters in the extended areas of the metro.
A CENTENARY OF SUBURBAN RAILWAY
Chennai started with the suburban rail system from Beach to Tambaram in the 1920s. This was a great help in the development of the areas adjoining the railway. Through the century, these became thickly populated and also economically vibrant. The facilities expanded with the construction of the MRTS by the Indian Railway.
For a study by the CMDA and the Times Research Foundation done during 1989-91 on Madras 2011, as consultant on transportation and industry, I recommended focus on the construction of 100 km of surface rail line and 100 km of underground/elevated rail lines. Such a plan started taking shape when the Chennai metro rail was set up in 2007 as a separate entity to construct underground and elevated rail system of 45 km initially at an estimated cost of Rs 3770 crore. This was completed at a cost of Rs 14,600 crore with 32 stations through two corridors covering sizeable sections of the central areas of Chennai metro and was completed in 2021.
On the popularity and success of this system, construction of three more routes have been cleared for a distance of 118 km at an estimated cost of Rs 60,000 crore. On completion of these projects over five years, there will be an elegant and convenient commuting system would be in place across the metro.
IE has been pointing to the imperative of uniting these different modes of transport for easy commuting from one form to another.
MRTS-METRO-SUBURBAN INTER-CONNECT
MRTS stopped with Velachery due to problems of land acquisition denying the facility for easy transit to the metro and suburban rail lines from the MRTS line. Happily, this problem has been solved and the missing link of around 5 km from Adambakkam to St Thomas Mount is being constructed now. There are expectations of this work to be completed through the current year. This would facilitate inter-transfer among the MRTS, suburban and metro rail lines.
The formation of the CUMTA will help rationalise the tariffs and pave for easy commuting from one part of the city to another with ease.
There is also the need for integrating the bus transport system of the metro with rail systems under the CUMTA. This will be a boon for ease of commuting as in London or Hong Kong. This may also help rationalise the uneconomic fare structure of the road transport that contributes to humongous losses to the state’s exchequer.
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