Monorail project still on the back-burner

Hyderabad: With the State government going in for the Metro Rail connecting the IT corridor and airport, suspense on the launch of proposed Monorail project will continue for some more time, as officials said kick-starting the project would depend on funding by the Union government.

The Monorail is a single coach that goes on a single track and compared to Metro, the cost of the construction and space it takes up are low. Cities like Deli, Mumbai and Pune have been utilising these services.

The State government had proposed Mono Rail in the IT corridor in the city and had also constituted a task force on urban mobility to study the model in the IT corridor. The idea was that there was a need to integrate and synergise various modes of transport, such as Metro Rail, buses, monorail, MMTS, tram, e-vehicles keeping in view the present traffic density and the emerging traffic requirement for the next five decades.

According to officials, the government is of the opinion that the Outer Ring Road, national highways/State highways and satellite towns as well as the urban local bodies in a radius of 100 km from Hyderabad also need to be kept in view while integrating and synergising various modes of transport. The government had constituted a task force comprising government and members from the corporate sector to study the monorail model.

The committee is to find the best and most economical ways of transport including monorail, tram, e-vehicles and any other such rail or road connectivity on various routes in a synergistic manner. The committee will also suggest various methods of funding such projects and raising resources, including PPPs, joint ventures and annuity funding. The committee will submit its recommendations to the government.

According to a senior official, with the Metro Rail phase-II being taken up at a cost of over Rs 6,000 crore, the government may not take up the Monorail project immediately. The government had sought Rs 254 crore as viable gap funding for the Metro Rail phase-II. He said a lot would depend on the Centre for the Monorail to get materialised.