The proposed Metro rail will now not run on Ashram Road but on an elevated track built on unused land on the eastern side of the adjacent Botad-Sabarmati meter-gauge line. The central government has cleared the proposal for use of the unused land that was proposed by the state government a decade ago. The original proposal, moved in 2003-04 by Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority , was rejected by the Congress-led UPA government. However, after Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister, the Railway Board has decided to give to the Gujarat government a part of the 8.5-km-long stretch of land for the Metro rail project.
The Centre has now granted permission for construction of an elevated corridor and seven st ations on the railway land on the eastern side of the meter-gauge line in the Vejalpur-Nava Vadaj stretch.
In an official statement, Gujarat finance minister and government spokesperson Saurabh Patel said that the unused land parallel to the metre-gauge railway line will be used to build the elevated corridor and seven stations for the Metro rail project. The new alignment of the Metro rail has increased the length of the route by two km and added two more stations. "With the inclusion of new areas in the route, we expect a significant increase in the number of Metro passengers. It will also ease the burden on city roads," the minister said.
Tenders for the construction of the first Metro rail track of 6 km --from Vastral to Khokhra -have been issued.Actual construction is expected to start by January 2015. "People living in Satellite, Manekbaug areas can access Metro station at Jivraj Park. Similarly , those from Ambawadi, Navrangpura and Vadaj areas w ill also benefit," said Patel. I P Gautam, vice-chairman and MD, Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, said that the change in alignment will benefit people living on either side of the railway line up to 500 metre to 1 km.
In the changed alignment, the Metro rail will cross Shreyas railway over-bridge and Gujarat college railway over-bridge. This will lead to increase in the height of the elevated corridor. Further, there will be availability of extra commercial area of 1 floor at Metro stations which can be used for commercial purpose to given on lease or rent for additional revenue.
Nitin Patel, state cabinet minister and government spokesperson, stated that the new route will prevent congestion on Ash ram Road and also be more convenient for commuters.
Metrorail project in Ahmedabad would see three multi-modal transit junction being developed in the first phase. Such will be the planning that at Sabarmati, Kalupur and Gandhigram the exi sting platforms in some stations and additional infrastructure would be designed in such a way that passengers would have easy access to BRTS, city bus, Metrorail and Indian Railway services depending on their destinations.
"We want to integrate the spines of some of the main modes of transport. It is an intricate job where we would be working with Indian railways train timings, BRTS bus frequency and our MEGA metro rail frequency," says vice chairman and managing director Metrorail Express Gandhinagar-Ahmedabad (MEGA) IP Gautam.
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