Part I: Monorail
An article by Lloyd Wright published in ITDP magazine highlights that
Monorail systems suffer from significant operational and financial
difficulties, & performance levels have rarely lived up to the
image. The reality is that Monorails have failed to match promises.
Excluding amusement parks and zoos, there are currently only 13
Monorail systems in operation in the world (Jacksonville, Las Vegas,
Seattle, Sydney, Qiongquing, Osaka, Tokyo, Tama, Hiroshima, Naha,
Kokura, Chiba City & Kuala Lumpur). None of these existing systems
have actual rider-ship levels greater than 5,000 passengers per hour
per direction, & most of them outside Japan are facing financial
problems. In Japan, Monorails have been financially viable because
ticket pricing is set very high, & is still affordable due to very
high incomes.
A new Monorail system by Scomi claims a capacity of 106 passengers per
car. A 6–coach vehicle will thus be able to carry 636 passengers, &
with headway of 3 minutes, the capacity would be 12,720 passengers per
hour. This is still lesser than 1/3rd the capacity of a Metro system
& less than ½ that of a Light rail system. For costs at
$12–40 million per km (Rs.50–160 crores per km), the capacity is on the
low side when compared to a Metro system & this implies that ticket
pricing will need to be higher than Metro-rail on commercial
considerations. Thus, the value of this system to the middle &
lower income groups is questionable as it might not be cost-efficient
for people with limited resources & may not match up to economics
of scale, particularly in India with very low ticket pricing. If
subsidies or rider-ship guarantees are being considered to private
parties who may meet costs for installing the system, then again, the
cost to the city (& tax-payers) may be on the high side. In any
case, Monorail technology is yet to be tested in Indian conditions with
very low ticket pricing, when compared to monorail systems overseas.
Thus, there appear to be financial risks & capacity concerns with
these systems.
If commuters are channeled to use public mass transits instead of
private vehicles (as needs to be done), there is the possibility that
capacities with Monorail may fall short of the city’s requirements
along the planned corridors at about 2025, or may be even earlier with
unforeseen induced growth with improvements in transportation networks
& increased FSI. All indicators point to rapid urbanization &
high growth cities, like Bangalore will obviously see very large
expansion with job creation & outsiders pouring into them from all
parts of the country, as before. The presumption that ‘capacities would
suffice’ has already been tested & has repeatedly failed with
growth rates exceeding projections each time – capacities of widened
roads, flyovers & the airport/s have been falling short within a
few years. Surely, the city cannot afford such errors with hugely
expensive mass transit projects & provisions for capacity expansion
must be in place.
Compared to Monorail, if Metro-rail or Light rail is used along the
same corridors, with an initial capacity about the same as Monorail by
reducing rolling stock & increasing headway times to about 10
minutes, installation costs may be around the same or lesser than
Monorail since all these corridors allow for elevated sections. This
has the advantage of capacity increases speedily & economically as
& when required in the future by merely adding rolling stock &
reducing headway times, & could be a financially viable permanent
solution to transport problems along these high growth routes.
Given these facts, Monorail may not really be justified, particularly
with dubious records of performance & implementation elsewhere in
the world.