PM Modi inaugurates first phase of Ahmedabad Metro

Mar 04,2019

PM Modi inaugurates first phase of Ahmedabad Metro

After inaugurating the first phase of the Ahmedabad Metro Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a ride on the newly built rail service accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, Governor OP Kohli, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

PM Modi flagged off the metro service from the Vastral Gam station and took a ride till the next metro station at Nirant Cross Road.

The plan for first 6.5 km of the 40-km long Phase-I of the project had been in the pipeline since 2005 even though construction began only in March 2015.
As per officials involved in the project, 70 per cent work of the Rs 10,700 crore Phase-I of the project has been done and it would take another 1.5 years for its completion. The second section between Vishalla and Paldi on the North-South Corridor is also expected to be ready for operations by September 2019.

The metro service for the 6.5 km route is expected to be thrown open to the public on March 6. The minimum fare for the Ahmedabad Metro will be Rs 5 (for 2.5 kms ). Passengers travelling the entire 6.5 km length between Vastral Gam and Apparel Park will have to pay Rs 10.

“The maximum fare for the entire length of East-West corridor of about 21 kilometers between Vastral Gam and Thaltej Gam (when commissioned) will be Rs 25. These fares are very reasonable,” said IP Gautam, managing director of Gujarat Metrorail Corporation Limited.

Phase-II of Ahmedabad Metro
PM Modi also laid the foundation stone for the 28.2 km-long Phase-II of the metro project that will connect Ahmedabad to Gandhinagar at a cost of Rs 6,769 crore.

The second phase will have two corridors: the first one (22.8 km) linking Motera with Mahatma Mandi — the annual venue of Vibrant Gujarat summit; and the second (5.42 km) from Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) to Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) and GIFT city.

Metro trains from South Korea
The metro rakes have been imported from South Korea and were brought to Gujarat through sea-route in January 2019. A South Korean firm, Hyundai Rotem, is supplying 32 trainsets — consisting of three cars each at a cost of Rs 1,025 crore. These trains are being manufactured at the Changwon plant in South Korea.

Japan’s role
Japan played a crucial role in the development of the Ahmedabad metro. Apart from a Rs 4,456 crore loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for Phase-I, a group of Japanese firms are also helping in the construction process.

This includes Mitsubishi Electric-supplying the propulsion system for the rolling stocks; Nippon Signal-installing it’s Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) and Signalling and Train Control System (STCS); and Mitsui & Co. which has been roped in for the procurement of rail, which is manufactured by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal.