Balaji Wins Madurai Metro’s Feasibility Consultant Contract
Balaji Railroad Systems (BARSYL) on Wednesday emerged as the lowest bidder to prepare a Feasibility Study Report for introducing a mass rapid transit system (MRTS) in Madurai.
Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) had invited bids for this consultancy contract in November right after Tamil Nadu’s state government made budgetary allocation for 2021-2022. Technical bids were opened in December to reveal 5 bidders.
CMRL’s estimate is unknown and they’d like the report to be completed and delivered within a 120 day deadline.
Financial Bid Values:
| Firm | Bid (Rs. lakh) |
| Balaji Railroad Systems | 51.62 |
| Aarvee Associates | 64.11 |
| L&T Infrastructure Engineering | 65.72 |
| RITES | 96.22 |
| Rina Consulting | 111.70 |
Contract Title: DFRMaduraiMRTS2021
Brief Scope: Selection of Consultant for Preparation of Feasibility Study Report for introducing a Mass Rapid Transit System in Madurai city
CMRL’s estimate is unknown to me, so I can’t provide an assessment on the chance of a LOA getting issued. If and when awarded, Balaji’s scope of work would include the following:
- To collect and examine available reports of previous studies, plans, CMP Report and other related with transportation scenario of Madurai Metropolitan Region.
- To collect primary transport network inventory data along with utilities within the Project Influence Area.
- To collect all the secondary information such as development plans, public transport routes.
- To conduct a review of the current situation in order to establish the existing condition and capacity of the public transport system.
I’m curious to see what Balaji would recommend. Personally, building a heavy rail-based system for a town like Madurai would be an overkill. A Light Rail Transit system (like Delhi Metrolite) or bus-based system (like Nashik MetroNeo) – in that order – should be sufficient.
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– TMRG
Having visited Madurai a few times, I’ve seen how absolutely jam-packed the city is. While it’s not small enough to be a ‘town’ by any means, it’s not a megacity either. Regardless of its size, it’s packed with people, all stuck in traffic and unable to get anywhere. I guess there’s one ring road that kinda helps people in the outskirts of the city, but the streets near the main temple are all absolutely crowded.
So I’d agree with your assessment that a full-fledged metro may not be required in a tier-2 city, but whatever is built should really have the capacity to sustain the massive crowd that Madurai will throw at it.
Madurai City needs only mini buses instead of the big buses today to manage traffic congestion in the city. Only mini buses are to be allowed within the perimeter of 4 veli streets. In addition no bus should be allowed for parking inside the perimeter of the வெளி streets and bus crew can take rest in the destinations outside city limit. This will certainly help the traffic congestion to a great extent
Madurai a town really