The Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam metro rail projects have made little headway in the last five years due to procedural delays and changed priorities.
Several changes have been made to the original plans during the TDP term and by the YSRCP government now.
A G.O. clearing the decks for the implementation of the Visakhapatnam metro rail project, which is apparently more feasible with better returns than the one planned in Vijayawada, in the PPP mode had been given in November 2018.
The Urban Mass Transit Company Limited (UMTC), which was the consultant for preparing the DPR for the Vizag metro, was appointed the consultant for the Vijayawada project as well in August 2017.
Nothing substantial had since happened in both the ambitious projects, except for the land acquisition and preparation of the DPRs.
Three corridors
The tentative cost of the Visakhapatnam Light Metro Rail (VLMR) project comprising three corridors – Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to the proposed Bhogapuram International Airport, Gurudwara to Old Post Office, and Thatichetlapalem to China Waltair – with a total length of 76.9 km was pegged by the UMTC at ₹14,400 crore, excluding land acquisition and R&R cost of ₹1,240 crore.
The cost of the Phase-I of the Vijayawada metro rail project from Gannavaram to Pandit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS) and PNBS to Penamaluru, covering a total distance of 38.74 km, was fixed at ₹10,263 crore.
As per the sixth annual report (2020-21) of the Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation Limited (AMRCL), which was tabled in the Legislative Assembly during the ongoing budget session, the draft DPR for the VLMR had been submitted to the government in May 2021 for deciding on the financing model, and AMRCL requested the government to constitute a steering committee for examining the DPR and taking the project forward.
As far as Vijayawada metro rail project was concerned, the DPR was submitted in February 2020 and, in the second phase, it was proposed to be extended from PNBS to capital Amaravati.
Tram system
The UMTC also prepared a DPR for a catenary-free modern tram system in Visakhapatnam that would be integrated with the VLMR. It was estimated to cost nearly ₹6,000 crore.
Besides, a semi high-speed suburban circular railway was mooted along the existing Indian Railway tracks connecting Vijayawada, Mangalagiri, Nambur, Amaravati, Guntur and Tenali. The cost of this project was put at approximately ₹9,050 crore.
