A not-so-Rapid Ride

  • Barnali Dutta / FG
  • India
  • Jul 18, 2014

 

 

The proposed abrupt hike in the fare of the Rapid Metro (by about Rs 10), for a single point-to-point journey over the circular network, has shocked the commuters. About a lakh potential daily commuters, between Sikanderpur and Cyber City, had prompted DLF to go ahead with this unique rail link. DLF claimed this venture as the first ever privately funded public metro link in the world. It was based on an extensive survey along with local civic authorities and the traffic police, and had the overall support of the State government. This mega project, at a reported cost of a whopping Rs 1,100 crores, was executed by Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS), and is being operated by Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon Ltd (RMGL). As per the initial survey and a detailed project report, this rail link was supposed to mitigate the problems faced by local commuters. RMGL had assured last mile connectivity by buses – and even a skywalk. That is why it was welcomed, despite a high single line link flat fare of Rs.12 and the inconvenience of a fixed round-trip journey. However, the assured bus links and other services (like traffic lights, zebra crossings) have not materialised. Queries are not responded to. Also, suddenly there seem to be too many cooks spoiling this broth, in the sense that umpteen agencies are now involved. The Government of Haryana, HUDA, other civic authorities, Traffic Police, DLF, ILFS, Skylark Highways Solutions Limited (SHSL), Millennium City Expressways Private Limited (MCEPL), NHAI and of course RMGL, are the complex of entities in this cobweb of confusion. Preeti, a regular user of Rapid Metro, commuting between Sikanderpur and Cyber City and other stations on this circular network, laments, “The frequency of the trains on this network is irregular. Then, even though the metro ride is hassle-free, one has to spend quite some time in returning to Sikanderpur, due to the single-way route - and one has to shell out Rs.12 for each hop. Now, rubbing salt in our wounds, there is a proposal to increase this hopping rate by Rs10!” 

The ‘trend’ on this exclusive prized project mooted by DLF remind one of the Delhi Airport Metro Express (DAME) - from New Delhi Railway Station to Indira Gandhi International Airport. That route was also flagged off by Reliance Infrastructure with much fanfare, before Ambani said ‘enough is enough’ and backed out. Today this rail link is being operated directly by Delhi Metro. Are there lessons for Rapid Metro? It seems to be convenient and of value for just those people who come from New Delhi to Cyber City, and are now able to get direct connectivity from/to Sikanderpur. Pankaj Yadav, a commuter, says, “DLF to address our problems, which is also impacting the number of users. The frequency of trains is poor, we need a more rational point-to-point fare structure, and we need them to deliver on the promised bus links. Even the design of the stations and their coming up in congested areas makes one wonder what planning has gone into this project. Rather than taking care of customer problems, they instead seem to be keen on only making it profitable in the shortest time.” Repeated calls and posers to Rapid Metro folk – like the queries by cutomers – elicited no response.


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