In Delhi, 19 key locations to be remodelled with pedestrians in mind

Multiple agencies in the national capital have come together for the first time to create a comprehensive “walkability plan” that will start with remodelling 19 key locations to make the city safer and more accessible for pedestrians.

According to senior officials and government documents accessed by Hindustan Times, the changes include redesigned pedestrian crossings, open cables moved underground, street furniture, trees planted to provide shade, pelican lights, and gaps fixed in existing footpaths along with the construction of new ones.

Some areas will also be designated as non-motorised transport (NMT) lanes on the lines of the Chandni Chowk redevelopment project.

Delhi’s first “guidelines for walkability” are being prepared by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and will be ready “soon”, according to Delhi Development Authority (DDA) vice chairman Tarun Kapoor. The DDA is the main land-owning agency in the Capital and has powers to issue policies and regulations related to urban development and mobility.

The other agencies involved in the plan are the three municipal corporations (MCDs), the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), the Delhi government’s Public Works Department (PWD) and transport department, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Unified Traffic Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC), and the Delhi traffic police, making it the most comprehensive project to promote walking in the city.

According to a 2015 study by the Delhi Traffic police, out of the 1,582 fatal accidents in which 1,622 people were killed, the number of pedestrian fatalities was 684.

The 19 areas selected to kick-start the project are ITO, North and South campuses of Delhi University, Uttam Nagar crossing, the three inter-state bus terminals, INA, Hauz Khaz-IIT, Adhchini on Aurobindo Marg, Nehru Place, Bhikaji Cama Place, Karol Bagh, the Saket-Malviya Nagar stretch, Lajpat Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, Dwarka Sector 21, and the Old Delhi and New Delhi railway stations.

“A direction had come from the Prime Minister’s Office to look for an immediate solution to better the experience of pedestrians in the city. Accordingly, DDA met of all agencies last December 20 and it was decided that ‘walkability plans’ will be created and executed in 17 areas as a pilot project,” Kapoor said.

A UTTIPEC official, who asked not to be named, said the agency has been asked to prepare the “walkability plans” and that one of the first areas of focus is ensuring all footpaths are six inches above the road level with ramps for easy access for the differently abled.

While UTTIPEC will appoint consultants for the project, the plans will be executed by the road-owning agencies of the respective areas, the official added.

A second DDA official said on condition of anonymity that PMO asked Delhi to prepare a plan similar to one implemented by Chennai.

Shreya Gadepalli, urban mobility expert and South Asia Programme Lead at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), which collaborated with the Greater Chennai Corporation over the last eight years, highlighted that Chennai became the first city in India to adopt an NMT policy in 2014.

“The policy calls for 60% of Chennai’s transportation price budget for implementing the NMT policy. Chennai has already redeveloped about 100 km of walkable streets and is redesigning 400 additional streets. On small local streets, the city is set to place various traffic calming measures. Other key initiatives like effective parking management are being implemented,” she said.

The Chennai model is being implemented in 10 other cities of Tamil Nadu, including Coimbatore and Madurai.

Experts said the move is significant because Delhi’s agencies were working in silos until now, resulting in the city not being able get a a unified “walkability policy”.

“A dedicated policy on walkability has been a long-pending demand as governments have only been focusing on building road space to facilitate faster movement of vehicles. Under the plan, agencies should start with the — ensuring all footpaths are continuous in Delhi,” said K Ravinder, principal scientist, transportation planning division, CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CRRI).

“Also, since most people prefer on-street walking options, all traffic signals should compulsorily have working signals for those on foot, which would require changing the signal cycles.”

Reference: https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi-news/in-delhi-19-key-locations-to-be-remodelled-with-pedestrians-in-mind/story-UiSTw0FfPw1r1SjKtIygBP.html

After taking away Chennai port’s share, Krishnapatnam eyes JNPT cargo

Privately built Krishnapatnam port (Nellore district of Andhra) has been eating, it says, into the earlier cargo share of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT, at Navi Mumbai), the country’s largest container port.

Krishnapatnam, owned by Navayuga Engineering, was opened in 2008.

“Switching central India cargo to Krishnapatnam from JNPT would save seven to 10 days of transit time and also lower cost by $200-300 per TEU,” Vinita Venkatesh, director at Navayuga Container Terminal, told Business Standard.

TEU or Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit, is used to measure a ship’s cargo carrying capacity. One TEU are equal to a standard 20 ft shipping container — 20 ft long and eight ft tall.

The central India cargo referred to earlier denotes the strong cargo concentration points of Hyderabad and Nagpur, from where come sizable import from China, Korea and that region.

Today, this cargo is taking a circuitous route by going first to JNPT and then coming to central India.

“Traditionally, Hyderabad cargo has been with JNPT. We are making it known to customers that Krishnapatnam on the east coast would definitely give an advantage over JNPT,” Venkatesh said.

Messages sent to JNPT from this publication were not unanswered till the time of going to print.

This is not the first time that Krishnapatnam is giving stiff competition to domestic container ports. In the past, Krishnapatnam used aggressive marketing to take away cargo share from the Chennai port, one of the largest and busiest container ones on the east coast.

Krishnapatnam then targeted the north and east Karnataka region, along with Andhra-Telangana.

“The distance of cargo to the port and service offered are the main factors on which Krishnapatnam has been attempting to be a differentiator in the market, both on the east and west coast,” says Venkatesh.

Krishnapatnam currently handles 500,000 TEUs a year. An, increased thrust on trans-shipment and handling of newer cargo in the coming months, it says, make it aim at 700,000 TEUs in 2019-20. Pharmaceutical export from Hyderabad and import of solar power panels for Telangana are some of the new cargoes that are finding place in Krishnapatnam’s cargo kitty.

In November 2018, trans-shipment volume was 20,600 TEUs, as against 19,316 TEUs in the same period last year, it stated.

The recent relaxation of cabotage rules for container vessels also augurs well for the private port. “Earlier, there were only Indian flag feeders that came to Indian ports. With the cabotage relaxation, even foreign flag vessels are running Kolkata-Haldia services. As more and more mainline ships decide to hub their trans-shipment here, the number of feeders can adequately increase,” said Venkatesh. Feeders collect shipping containers from different ports and transport these to central container terminals, where they are loaded to bigger vessels or further transported by truck or rail into the hub port’s hinterland.

“Going ahead, we are expecting increased volumes from foreign flag vessels for trans-shipment. Since the relaxation came only in May, it will take time for foreign vessels to change the service pattern. They will need time to rework the new route but we are bullish on volumes from this segment,” explained Venkatesh.

The port recently began expanding its container terminal. This involves addition of 250 metres of berth-length to the existing 650 metres and erecting of three more quay cranes. Expected to be complete in the March quarter, this would raise its capacity from the current 1.2 million TEUs to two mn.

Currently about 2.8 million TEUs or a fourth of India’s cargo containers are trans-shipped at ports outside India — mainly at Colombo, Singapore, Port Klang, Salalah and Jebel Ali. Colombo alone accounts for 1.2 million TEUs.

Source:  https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/after-taking-away-chennai-ports-share-krishnapatnam-eyes-jnpt-cargo/

News highlights of the week

Mamta Shah takes charge of CEO & Managing Editor of  Transport News with effect from January 1, 2019

The  Transport News, a leading global media firm in mobility domain, has announced the appointment of a renowned and experienced public transport journalist, blogger, youth entrepreneur, social activist and key opinion leader, Mrs. Mamta Shah, as its new Managing Editor & Chief Executive Officer.

6 km stretch of Kolkata East-West Metro set for rollout in April this year

The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) is all set to open 6 km long stretch connecting Howrah with Salt Lake’s Sector V through 6 metro stations via underwater tunnels below the Hooghly riverbed. The section between Sector V and Salt Lake Stadium will be opened in this year. However, the entire 16.6 km metro rail network will likely to be operational by the year 2021. This corridor will also connect Kolkata’s two major Railway stations Sealdah and Howrah.

Chaitanya Prasad takes charge of Managing Director for Patna Metro

The additional charge of Managing Director of Patna Metro Rail Corporation Limited (PMRCL) has been given to Chaitanya Prasad who is the principal secretary of the development and housing department and the principal secretary of the Department of Parliamentary Affairs. It is being believed that with the appointment of Managing Director, the Patna Metro Rail project will get a boost.

West Bengal Govt decides to lodge FIR against Kolkata Metro Management

The West Bengal government has decided to take legal action against Kolkata Metro Railway Management for the fire in the metro corridor. This decision was taken at a high-level meeting in Kolkata Police Headquarters Lalabazar on Friday.

Centre approves 30.38 km long Faridabad-Gurugram Metro corridor

The new year has brought good news for Faridabad residents. The Central Government has approved the ambitious metro rail project between Faridabad-Gururgram, giving a New Year gift to the people of Faridabad. However, the operation of the Metro rail on this route will start in 2021. This information was given by the Union Minister of State for social justice and empowerment and Faridabad MP Krishan Pal Gurjar on Monday in a press conference.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis approves Nagpur Metro Rail Project Phase-II

The Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis has approved the phase-II of Nagpur Metro Rail Project on the very first day of the year 2019. The estimated project cost of phase-II is Rs.11,216 crores and the total length of this project will be 48.3 km while the total length of Phase-I is 39.95 km.

MEGA Metro reconstitutes as Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) Ltd

The board of directors of Metro-Link Express for Gandhinagar And Ahmedabad (MEGA) Company Limited on Saturday meeting, has approved the change of the company name from MEGA Company Limited to Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC) Limited. MEGA Company Managing Director Dr. I.P. Gautam shared this information after the board meeting. The new name of the company has also been updated on its website at the beginning of the new year.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal conducts a pre-launching inspection of Train 18

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has conducted a pre-launching inspection of Train 18 on Wednesday in New Delhi. He was accompanied by new Chairman Railway Board VK Yadav. Goyal said that his ministry is preparing a future-oriented plan for the development and modernization of Indian railways. For this, there will be a framework of comprehensive expansion and modernization of railway infrastructure along with the development of trains like Train 18.

Chennai to launch Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) soon

The Tamilnadu Governor has approved the formation of a unified transport authority to integrate multi-modal transportation service in the Chennai. This information was shared by the Governor himself at the Tamilnadu Assembly on Wednesday. The Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) Act and its relevant rules will be notified on January 16, 2019.

India will need nearly 1600 aircrafts worth $224 billion in the next 20 years

India’s aviation sector is fast moving forward in the world. It is said in a statement that in the next 20 years India will need about 1600 more aircraft. The Indian government’s initiative UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) scheme is to provide further momentum to the aviation sector. Under the scheme, the government has tried to make an ordinary person fly in the country as well. According to estimates, the vast aviation market side is stepping into the Indian aviation sector will need to buy planes of 224 billion dollars over the next 20 years.

Rly Minister holds high-level meeting with entire Railway Board, GM and DRMs

Minister of Railways & Coal, Piyush Goyal held a high-level review meeting with the entire Railway Board, all General Manager of Zonal Railways & Divisional Railway Managers of all the 68 Railway divisions yesterday on 3rd January’ 2019 at Rail Bhawan.  All DRMs were linked through Video Conferencing.

CM Rawat approves light rail transit project in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat gave his approval on the recommendations of Light Rail Transit (LRT) system in Uttarakhand. Similar to the metro train, but low-cost Light Rail Transit (LRT) system will be landed in the outer areas like Nepali Farm, Chhidwarka, Mohkampur in Dehradun area.

Reference: https://urbantransportnews.com/week-01-news-highlights-of-the-week/

Chennai to launch Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) soon

Chennai (Urban Transport News): The Tamil nadu Governor has approved the formation of a unified transport authority to integrate multi-modal transportation systems in the Chennai. This information was shared by the Governor himself at the Tamil nadu Assembly on Wednesday. The Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) Act and its relevant rules will be notified on January 16, 2019

“The Chennai Metro Rail has provided a world-class urban public transport facility in Chennai. The Phase –I has already commenced operations and is expected to be fully commissioned by January 2019. The Phase-I extension from Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar at an estimated cost of Rs.3,770 crore will be ready for inauguration by June 2020 as scheduled. The State Government has already accorded in-principle approval for the implementation of Phase-II of Chennai Metro Rail Project covering 107.55 km in three corridors. I am happy to inform this august House that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has now approved the funding of Rs.20,196 crore for the priority stretches totaling 52 km from Madhavaram to Sholinganallur and Madhavaram to Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT). The loan agreement for the first tranche of approximately Rs.4,770 crore was signed on 21st December 2018 and work will commence shortly. I am glad to announce that the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) Act and its relevant rules will be notified on 16th January 2019 to make the integrated functioning of Multi-Modal Transportation System a reality”, said H.E. Banwarilal Purohit while addressing the Tamilnadu Assembly on Wednesday.

After implementation of the CUMTA Act, all public transport systems would be integrated to work together and commuters can switch their transportation mode from MTC buses to Chennai MRTS and vice-versa with minimal hassle. This could be done through a common mobility card for all modes of transport.

The main aims of the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) Act to frame an urban transport policy for the Chennai Metropolitan Area on the lines of the Centre’s National Urban Transport Policy, received the approval of the State Governor on November 27, 2010 and was published in the Tamil Nadu Gazette Extraordinary on December 2, 2010 but not not yet implemented.

The need for the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) Actbecame urgent when the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) had felt lack of coordination urban transportation networks such as the Highways department, suburban railways, mass rapid transit system, and the Chennai Metro while preparing the second master plan for Chennai. Due to this, the CMDA could not be formed delaying the integration of all public mass passenger transport modes by means of various measures such as routing and scheduling, the operation of feeder services and combined or common ticketing to facilitate seamless commuting options for the public. 

At present, there are 10 different agencies, which are governed by various ministries and departments, are involved in traffic and transportation management in the Chennai Metropolitan area.

The Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) would be a single body to monitor the implementation of various traffic and transportation measures, including promoting the cause of public mass passenger transport systems and regulating their operations, besides implementation of traffic and transportation infrastructure in the Chennai Metropolitan Area. It would also help institute integrated transport planning and decision-making and give direction to the individual agencies and to the government’s overall transport strategy.

Reference: https://urbantransportnews.com/chennai-to-launch-unified-metropolitan-transport-authority-umta-soon/