By IANS,
Chandigarh: To ease traffic problems and provide better transport facilities to commuters of the tri-city of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali, a Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS), including metro rail, is on the anvil, an official said Friday.
“The proposed MRTS project will include metro rail, Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and Commuters Rail Service (CRS). Chandigarh would initiate the MRTS project jointly with the state governments of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab,” a spokesperson of the administration said here Friday.
He added, “The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs.150 billion (Rs.15,000 crore) and the project would be completed in four years time.”
Senior officials of the union territory of Chandigarh held a meeting in this regard with Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) here Friday. The meeting was headed by the union territory’s Finance Secretary Sanjay Kumar.
RITES presented a draft of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) covering the aspects of metro routes, BRTS corridors, parking space and cost and revenue modes for the entire project.
Kumar said the draft report would be circulated to the governments of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and the proposals would be discussed before anything is finalised.
Kumar stated, “After the plan is finalised, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation is likely to prepare the final project report, and based on that, execution of the project will start.”