- Metro Rails are being run in 178 cities all over the world including India.
- The longest Metro track operates in Shanghai, China. It is 430 km long.
- In Chennai, Metro Rail will cover a distance of 45 km in the 1st phase.
- Metro rail runs on tracks similar to the electric trains (underground, ground level, or elevated corridor).
- 9 coaches can be connected.
- 70000 passengers can travel in 1 hour.
- In India, there are plans to run metro rail in 34 cities. Now, projects are progressing at Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Cochin, Hyderabad, and Kozhikode.
- Laying of 1 km track of Metro rail costs Rs. 200 Crores.
- Chennai Metro Rail is designed to run at a speed of 90 km per hour. However, Chennai Metro trains will operate at a speed of 35 km.
- Travelling in Metro train will benefit in saving of time from 75% to 50%.
Comparison between Metro train & monorail
- A maximum of 140 passengers can travel in monorail. 325 passengers can travel in Metro.
- Monorail is safer for cities with populations under 10 Lakhs. However, more than 1 Crore people live in Chennai Metro & suburb and hence,Metro is better.
- Monorail tracks can be laid even in narrow openings.
- Only 7500 people can travel in monorail in one hour. In Metro, 75000 people (10 times more!) can travel in one hour.
Monorail projects are slowly dying!
- Monorail track laying will cost Rs. 150 Crore per km.
- There are over 50 monorail projects in the world which are being closed. They are replaced by Metro Rail with latest technology.
- As monorail travels slowly, it is more of an attraction for tourists.
- Monorail travels at 80 km per hour.