Repair work of Airport Metro to end by October: Kamal Nath

New Delhi  :  More than two months after the Airport Metro Express line was shut down by the concessionaire citing safety concerns, union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath Monday said repair work on the premier line is expected to end in October.

Kamal Nath was responding to reporters who asked him about the status of the Airport Metro, the country’s first public-private partnership Metro project, which suspended its services July 8 after structural faults were detected.

“We are expecting the repair work on the Airport Metro Express Line to be completed by the end of October,” Kamal Nath said.

The minister was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI conference on “Urban Infrastructure – PPP for Better Public Service”.

Kamal Nath also added that mono rail can be 40 percent cheaper than Metro.

“Monorail is 40 percent cheaper than metro and it can do much sharper curves. It can go up and down, which the metro cannot. The monorail corridor would provide intra-city transport service in congested localities, where the metro and even buses may find plying difficult,” the minister said.

The urban development ministry decided to identify and develop monorail corridors in various parts of Delhi and other states as well.

“The monorails will provide an efficient transport system and will also act as a feeder system to the metro. All cities must look for monorail, it is very convenient… the government will support this,” the minister said.