For this purpose a Detailed Project Report (DPR) was prepared and submitted by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation which designed and implemented the Delhi Metro Project. The DPR envisages the creation of two initial corridors under the proposed phase-1 of the project — Washermanpet to Airport (23.1 km) and Chennai Central to St Thomas Mount (22 km) — a total of 45.1 km.

The project became a fait accompli without any public consultation or participation by the ‘people of Chennai’ in this key decision-making. Only the views and objections of the people directly affected by the corridor alignment or land acquisition were taken. There was no need analysis or due-diligence, only a crisp declaration of intent: “Chennai Metropolis has been growing rapidly and the traffic volumes on the roads have also been increasing enormously. Hence the need for a new rail based rapid transport system has been felt and towards this objective the government of Tamil Nadu has decided to implement the Chennai Metro Rail Project.”

Neither was there any discussion or debate regarding optimisation of other modes of mass transit — the three suburban train corridors and MRTS — and the bus system in Chennai, all operating at sub-optimal levels, particularly MRTS. Optimising these modes could substantially achieve the above objective at a fraction of the cost of Metro!

Following submission of DPR things moved fast. The project was approved by the Tamil Nadu Cabinet on November 7, 2007, and received the Government of India’s nod on January 28, 2009. The estimated cost of this project is Rs 14,600 crore excluding the value of vacant State government land, which would be high. Fifty nine per cent of the cost will be met by Overseas Development Assistance loan of the Government of Japan. Balance 41 per cent will come by way of equity and debt financing by the Central and State governments. Equity or loan, only taxpayers — current and future — would bear the cost.

Chennai Metro is projecting many advantages. It causes no air pollution and creates less noise. The Metro system requires only 20 per cent of the energy used by a road-based system. It will occupy no road space. Assuming that trains will run every five minutes, Chennai Metro is expected to remove 13 lakh passengers per day from the roads by 2026, save over 100 lives a year by reducing fatal accidents, and avoid 500 non-fatal accidents per annum. It is expected to reduce journey times by 50 per cent to 75 per cent compared to bus travel, but there is no mention of the cost of journey. Stations will be elder-friendly and disabled-friendly with escalators and, where appropriate, lifts and/or moving walkways.

The project is programmed for completion in financial year 2014-15. Chennai Metro Rail Limited is a joint venture with equal equity participation from the Central and State governments on the Delhi Metro pattern.

For implementing the project Chennai Metro has appointed Delhi Metro as the prime consultant. Delhi Metro is in the news these days for all the wrong reasons. The troubles relate to a stream of accidents — fatal and freak — structural flaws and technical defects. These are stated to be due to the tight time schedule and resultant speed in which construction work is going on to meet the 2010 Commonwealth Games deadline. But given the fact that Delhi Metro is managed by E Sreedharan, a proven professional, one can hope that these setbacks would be overcome.

But not so the major failure of Delhi Metro pointed out by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) in their recent report, which will have far-reaching consequences for Chennai Metro being projected as the “economical mode of public transport, which is properly integrated with other forms of public and private transport.”

As per Delhi Metro’s 1995 projection, 31.85 lakh passenger trips per day were expected on the completion of Phase-1 of the project in 2005. This was subsequently scaled down in 2003 to 22.60 lakh. However, as per the CAG report, the highest daily average ridership attained was 6.62 lakh in November 2007, which was only 21 per cent of the original projections and 29 per cent of the revised figure. This means heavy cash losses.

The factors identified by CAG for the poor show are high fare structure in comparison to other modes of public transport and lack of proper connectivity and feeder bus system for adjoining areas to the metro stations. The project brief of Chennai Metro estimates 7.74 lakh passenger trips per day in 2016 and 12.85 lakh in 2026. There is no cost-benefit or economic analysis in the project brief.

Chennai is a city poorer than Delhi and therefore the affordability would be lower. There would be only two Metro corridors and the connectivity/feeder bus system in Chennai is bad. These will severely impact the viability of the Chennai Metro. Delhi, being the Capital city has no dearth of funds and can therefore provide for high levels of subsidy. Chennai is not that fortunate. So the burden will be on the commuter.

Unless an integrated and optimisation-centric transportation strategy is pursued, Chennai may end up having a sub-optimal suburban rail network, disjoined bus system and a stand-alone big-ticket showpiece called Chennai Metro! Imitating Delhi may cost Chennaites very dear!

(The author is a former IAS officer)