Monorail won't work in Bengaluru?

Bengaluru: While the government is talking of  either a Monorail or Light Rail Transit System acting as a feeder service for the Metro Rail and is in  talks with companies from China and Malaysia to make this a reality, some civic activists believe the Monorail may not be the answer to the city's traffic troubles.

Recalling that Mumbai,  the only Indian city to have tried a Monorail,  shelved it as it did not work for it, Mr Sanjiv of Praaja says it may not work for Bengaluru either. “In a big city like Bengaluru, the Monorail could get overcrowded. While it is just as expensive as the Metro, it can handle only half its capacity and is too expensive for the short distances it is supposed to cover," he explained.

Maintaining that mass mobility may not be possible in a small Monorail, he believes it may not be the answer to decongesting Indian cities that suffer from over population.

Also, going into the issue of affordability, he says a big ticket project like this one could make it expensive to use. “People  would  then rather alight from the Metro rail and just  walk to their destination,” he warned.

"Even if it is built on a PPP model, the foreign private player will need incentives, pushing the cost of the project to around Rs 150 crore," he said, adding," Monorail and Light Rail are more or less the same. The only difference is LRT is elevated and the other can run both underground and at an elevation. Also, their speeds and carrying capacity are the same. More importantly, as very little land acquisition will be required  this  will not be an obstacle.”

When contacted, Bengaluru Development Minister, KJ George said,  "This is just a proposal and we have not chosen between Monorail and Light Rail. We have just discussed it with companies from Malaysia, and China which have to come up with  proposals. If it is introduced, it will be a feeder service for Metro Phase 1. But nothing is finalised as yet."