Rapid transits in Pune soon!

New Metro rail projects hope to transform an overcrowded, under-serviced urban India. The British built India’s railway network in the mid-19

th century. Now, more than a century and half later,

the Metro rail is alternating maps and lives in much the same way in some of India’s largest and most crowded cities. An ambitious project afoot hoping to resolve issues of cheap and easy connectivity for citizens. The Kolkata Metro was the first off the mark. The completely indigenous underground railway commenced operations in 1984 and became the pride of the city. The metro is going to evident the growth of the city, especially with property prices shooting up in locales no one would have thought of inhabiting just a couple of decades ago. Countless commuters are set to benefit as the network gets denser. The work, that appears to be carrying endlessly – disrupting traffic and inconveniencing local residents – is likely to be for greater good. Building a Metro in an Indian city is an arduous task, encumbered as it may get by the processes of land acquisition, relocation of project affected persons, realignment of public utilities, co-ordination with other agencies and even large scale thefts at sites. Apart from the structural work, the project involves installation of signaling and communication equipment and other technical work as well. Metro projects are capital-intensive and usually not financially viable on a standalone basis, due to the complexity of risks involved. To make these projects viable, the government provides viability gap funding to assume some of the risk. With India’s growing numbers and demand for transport, the future of the Metro seems secure.