RITES Submits Detailed Project Report for Agra Metro to Agra Development Authority

The pre-construction activities for the development of Agra’s metro are progressing as per schedule!

Earlier this week, the engineering consultancy company Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) submitted Agra Metro’s Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Agra Development Authority (ADA). This fits right into the pre-construction time-frame that I had written about when the feasibility report was being prepared. The ADA will now examine the DPR and recommend suggestions for changes to RITES.

RITES in its DPR has suggested a 30 km metro network in Phase 1 consisting of 2 lines with a total of 30 stations. Of these, 11 stations will be underground while the rest will be elevated.

The 2 proposed lines are:

Line-1: Agra Cantt. Railway Station to Kalindi Vihar with 14 elevated stations & 1 underground station
Line-2: Sikandra to Taj East Gate with 5 elevated stations & 10 underground stations

Here’s a map I’ve made which shows the alignment of both lines:

Proposed lines of Agra’s Metro system – view Agra Metro info & map

As you can clearly figure out, an interchange will be built at St. John’s college which is a part of Agra University.

Since the lines will connect and pass by numerous heritage buildings & structures, many of the stations will be built underground and a little away from them. For example, the ‘Sikandra station’ will be built about 500 meters away from Akbar’s tomb located in Sikandra, a suburb of Agra. Similarly, the underground ‘Agra Fort station’ (the fort’s location can faintly be seen written in the center of the map) will be built at the government nursery adjoining the Agra Golf Course. The ‘Taj East Gate station’ will be elevated and has been proposed to be built on the PWD land along the Fatehabad road near Hotel Trident.

As per the DPR, 3-car trains will make 136 trips per day on the Sikandra – Taj line while 160 daily trips will be made between Agra Cantt & Kalindi Vihar. Since September, stations at Hing ki Mandi and Nehru Nagar have been replaced by stations at Sur Sadan and Shastri Nagar respectively.

Here’s a recap of the locations where the stations will come up which have been finalized after numerous site visits and discussions with local authorities & Agra’s commissioner:

Stations on Line 1: Agra Cantt. , Sadar Bazaar, Pratap Pura, Collectorate, Subhash Park, St. John’s (Agra University), Sanjay Place, MG Road, Sur Sudan, Sultanganj, Kamla Nagar, Rambagh, Foundary Nagar, Mandi Samiti & Kalindi Vihar

Note: Only the Nehru Nagar station in Line 1 will be underground. The rest will be elevated.

Stations on Line 2: Sikandra, Guru Ka Taal, ISBT, University, RBS College, Raja Ki Mandi, St. John’s (Agra University), Medical College, Shastri Nagar, Jama Masjid, Agra Fort, Purani Mandi, Fatehabad Road, Basai & Taj East Gate

Note: In this line, 10 stations will be built underground. The elevated ones are at: Guru Ka Taal, Purani Mandi, Fatehabad Road, Basai & Taj East Gate.

With the DPR now in the ADA’s hands, the next step would be for the ADA to forward the DPR to the state government for its approval. Following that, a nodal agency A.K.A. Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) along the lines of the DMRC, BMRCL etc will be formed for executing the project.

For more updates on India’s metro systems, check out the Home Page of The Metro Rail Guy!

– TMRG