“The government is thinking of setting up an SPV for implementing the monorail project. The decision in this regard will be taken soon,” transport minister V S Sivakumar told TOI.
“We are awaiting the report by the NATPAC which is expected by the end of next month. The final decision will be taken only after that,” said transport secretary K Ellangovan.
He said that the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation Limited (KTDFC) is liaising with the NATPAC and other agencies as the nodal agency for the project.
Following the decision to go ahead with the monorail project, the state cabinet had asked the NATPAC to prepare a feasibility report on the setting up of the monorail system. The traffic survey for the monorail project in the city, the first step in the feasibility study being carried out by the NATPAC, has been completed in the Attingal-Neyyattinkara stretch.
The 28.4-km monorail from Balaramapuram to Kazhakootam is expected to link the Technopark campus and would pass through the central railway station. The monorail stretch, which is expected to cut down the traffic woes of the city by at least 40 per cent of the current volume, is to take the Ulloor- Kesavadasapuram- Palayam- Thampanoor- Karamana- Balaramapuram route, starting from Kazhakootam.
The total budget for the project has been estimated at Rs 3,400 crore. The train, which would run on an elevated single rail as the name suggests, would comprise of four cars capable of carrying more than 200 persons at a time running at a speed of 40km/hr. The project is expected to be finished in three-years’ time once the project is cleared.
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