The Capital may soon get Metrino — a driverless train — for a 70-kilometre stretch which will run on electricity on the pattern of a ropeway between Dhaula Kuan and Manesar.“The Rs4,000-crore project is in a very nascent stage but we hope to get it started by the end of this year. We have assessed the feasibility of the project and it comes to a fifth of the metro project,” said Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) who was speaking at the Smart Transportation Infrastructure Summit at the PHD chambers.
“This will be achieved through driverless pods between Delhi’s Dhaula Kuan and Manesar. It will come down at the station and will run on electricity. While the capital cost of metro is Rs250 crore per km, this will cost Rs50 crore per km. It’s a pilot project.”
Under the project, fully automatic and driverless small vehicles, known as pods, will travel suspended under an overhead network. Gadkari said that the Centre has initiated several steps to overhaul the highways sector across the country.
“One of our primary objectives is to decongest Delhi. Bringing in merino, building the eastern and western peripheral expressways and gradually phasing out diesel vehicles will not only make mobility easier and safer but also bring down pollution levels,” he said.
The Minister said that the Government is also working on a new policy where those surrendering old cars would be incentivised to decongest traffic through less vehicles on roads.
Elaborating on the new policy to clear up traffic, the Minister said people will be offered some financial incentives in lieu of return of their old vehicles to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads.
“We are formulating a new policy that whoever will surrender their old car, we will give some incentives to them. We will process the old cars in any industrial area and recycle their parts,” he said.“We will give some money to the diesel car owners. They can buy a new car. On one new vehicle purchase, the government is benefited by Rs95,000. We will encourage people to sell off their old cars,” he added.
Gadkari said the work on Rs6,000-crore Ring Road from Manesar to Eastern pass will take off soon, besides Dasna to Meerut highway being converted into 16 lanes.“Once the Ring Road is complete, it will reduce the problem of traffic jam in Delhi by 30-40 per cent,” he said.
Gadkari called upon the Indian industrialists to deliberate upon indigenous technologies that can contribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India’ and development of smart transportation system for Smart Cities.