Phase 1 Metro service may be extended up to airport
LMRC in touch with AAI which earlier said it would not allow construction of a metro station within a 100-metre radius of the airport
LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) is mulling a proposal to extend the service up to Chaudhary Charan Singh (CCS) Airport in the first phase of the project. The first service is scheduled to begin on the 8.5-kilometre priority section from Transport Nagar to Charbagh railway station by 2016-end.
According to sources, the corporation now intends to increase the scope of service under the first leg beyond Transport Nagar to CCS Airport if things move as planned with the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The AAI has made it clear that due to strict security norms, it would not allow construction of a metro station within a 100metre radius of the airport.
“We are in touch with the AAI officials. Since we already have a fully functional casting yard in the airport’s vicinity mobilising work on this section would not take much time,” said an official. Simultaneously, efforts are also on to start work on the 3.40-kilometre underground section from the Charbagh railway station to KD Singh Babu Stadium.
“Sixteen firms participated in the first pre-bid meet for the Rs 1,300 crore work tender on Monday. The last date for submitting tenders is January 19, 2016. We have set a deadline of April 1, 2016 to start work on the underground section,” said an LMRC official.
It would take the contractor at least two months to assemble and deploy the tunnel-boring machines (at least two would be required), the official said. He said that the architectural design and plans for the three underground stations had been finalised in consultation with ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan, principal advisor to LMRC, and the tender for this underground section would be awarded as one single package. “We have set a time frame of 36 months to complete work,” he said.
The first underground station would be located near Anurag Apartments at Vikas Deep, second at the All India Radio office near Bapu Bhawan and the third would come up near Capoor Hotel in Hazratganj. To be equipped with four escalators and two lifts and all other modern amenities, the cost of each station would range between Rs 28 and 30 crore. The 22.8-kilometer North-South corridor from CCS Airport to Munshi Pulia would have 19 elevated stations. The European Investment Bank (EIB), which has already sanctioned a Euro 450 million loan to LMRC, is expected to release the first tranche of Euro 200 million early 2016, he said.