Chandigarh: Tricity Metro project still waiting to pick up speed
Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) has been directed to re-examine its Metro ridership estimate of 11.3 lakh passengers per year
The wait for the Tricity Metro project continues to grow longer.
A month after Haryana transport additional chief secretary Ashok Khemka chaired a committee meeting on the project, the minutes have finally been released, directing Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) to re-examine its Metro ridership estimate of 11.3 lakh passengers per year.
With this fresh hurdle, the project is likely to face further delays, with still no clear timeline for its launch.
The eight-member committee, constituted by UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria in November last year, was tasked with assessing the financial viability of the Tricity Metro project. Four months later, the committee, which is working in coordination with RITES, has met twice in January and February. But failed to come up with conclusive results.
The UT chief engineer serves as the nodal officer and convener of the committee.
In the minutes of the meeting, held on February 18, Khemka has asked the agency to share the conversion factor used to estimate the number of people expected to board the Metro.
He also sought clarifications and justifications on whether the projected 5% annual fare increase was on the higher side and required re-evaluation.
He directed RITES to analyse the actual fare revisions of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) over time to determine a more realistic fare escalation model. Additionally, the committee asked RITES to reassess its assumption that traffic growth in the city would be 3% per annum.
The committee is now expected to submit its report by mid-April to UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria, who will present it before the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA), a platform for addressing mobility challenges across Tricity. The date for the UMTA meeting is yet to be decided.
During the meeting, Khemka also requested data on Metro performance, specifically the actual versus projected ridership, based on the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report, as it would provide a more reliable benchmark.
Comparing Metro parameters across cities, he pointed out that the estimated daily ridership for Kochi Metro in 2023 was 1.32 lakh, while the actual ridership stood at 86,581—a variance within the tolerable error limit of 50%. However, despite increased ridership, Kochi Metro still incurred a revenue loss of ₹32 crore in 2023-24.
He emphasised that the key metric for assessing viability is the operational ratio, which should ideally be less than 1 (excluding capital costs).
Citing the case of Gurgaon Rapid Metro, where the operational ratio is nearly 5, he noted that such a model was unsustainable. He also pointed out that DMRC operated with an annual profit of ₹400-500 crore. In Ahmedabad, the operational revenue was ₹5.62 lakh in 2020-21, ₹21.86 lakh in 2021-22, and ₹11.74 crore in 2022-23, yet the Metro incurred a loss of ₹46.53 crore in 2021-22.
Phase 1 estimated to be completed by 2032
Estimated to cost around ₹24,000 crore overall, the Metro project’s Phase 1 is expected to be completed by 2032, as per RITES’ Alternatives Analysis Report (AAR). Under this phase, a stretch of 85.65 km has been planned, comprising both overhead and underground routes, with 16.5 km of underground route falling in Chandigarh’s heritage sectors.
The first phase includes three routes: Sultanpur, New Chandigarh, to Sector 28, Panchkula (34 km); Sukhna Lake to Zirakpur ISBT via Mohali ISBT and Chandigarh airport (41.20 km); and from Grain Market Chowk, Sector 39, to Transport Chowk, Sector 26 (13.30 km), along with a 2.5 km depot entry line.
In Phase 2, which will be developed after 2034, a 25-km line has been proposed from Airport Chowk to Manakpur Kallar (5 km) and ISBT Zirakpur to Pinjore (20 km), primarily an elevated network.