BHUBANESWAR: The much-awaited Twin City metro rail service could finally become a reality with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announcing the project that is envisaged to connect Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri.The chief minister made the announcement on the occasion of Utkal Dibas that marks the formation of the state on linguistic basis.
Extending warm greetings, Naveen said, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, the metro will not only offer world-class and environment-friendly urban transport for an emerging and aspirational Odisha but also spur economic activities and accelerate expansion of the urban city cluster covering Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri and Khurda.
“The emergence of a modern and planned city cluster will attract people, investments, trade and tourism like never before. We have always strived to push boundaries and improve the lives of people. We are taking another step towards a New Odisha to provide best-in-class metro services. This will be a truly transformational project,” he said.
This announcement came days after Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore informed the Rajya Sabha that no proposal for metro services between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack has been received from the Odisha government.
Sources said, the project will be predominantly based on elevated corridors with entire funding by the state government. In the first phase, a metro trunk route from Trisulia near Cuttack to Biju Patnaik International Airport at Bhubaneswar will be created. The 30-km route will tentatively touch major landmarks including Nandankanan, Patia, Jaydev Vihar, Vani Vihar and Bhubaneswar railway station.
The route will start from Subash Bose bridge at Cuttack, enabling commuters from the city to access important locations in Bhubaneswar. In later phases, the metro will expand to Khurda and Puri. Sources said, the detailed project report is yet to be prepared. But, at a rate of around Rs 150 crore per km of metro rail, the initial estimate for the 30-km route would be around Rs 4,500 crore.
The chief minister while approving the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar metro under mass rapid transit system (MRTS) in the capital region, has asked the Housing and Urban Development department to complete the detailed project report on a war-footing.
In 2010, the state government had approached Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for a feasibility study for the metro project. The then principal advisor of DMRC, E Sreedharan, however, had made it clear that a metro rail was unsuitable for Bhubaneswar due to lack of required traffic.
The state had then in 2014 roped in Hyderabad-based Balaji Railroad Systems Ltd (BARSYL) for preparing a detailed project report for the 30-km MRTS between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The firm had suggested adding coverage of more areas to make the project feasible.
A team of senior officials led by chief secretary PK Jena and 5T secretary VK Pandian made a field visit for the proposed Cuttack-Bhubaneswar-Khurda-Puri metro project on Saturday.