Transport in Delhi
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Delhi, the national capital of India, has significant reliance on its transport infrastructure. The city has a developed and complex public transport system, which is undergoing rapid modernization and expansion. There are 55 lakh (5.5 million) registered vehicles in the city, which is the highest in the world among all cities (within municipal limits), while the Delhi metropolitan region (NCT Delhi) has 112 lakh (11.2 million) motor vehicles[1], again highest in the world among all metropolitan regions. This adds significantly to city's traffic and pollution woes. Delhi and NCR lose nearly 42 crore (420 million) man-hours every month while commuting between home and office through public transport, due to the traffic congestion.[2]. Therefore serious efforts, including a number of transport infrastructure projects, under way to encourage usage of public transport in the city, most of which have been successful.
Overview
Because of relatively large development of road infrastructure, public transport in the metropolis is largely road-based and includes a bus system, auto-rickshaws, cycle-rickshaws and taxis. With the introduction of Delhi Metro, a rail-based mass rapid transit system, rail-based transit systems have gained ground. Other means of transit include suburban railways, inter-state bus services and private taxis which can be rented for various purposes. However, buses continue to be the most popular means of transportation for intra-city travel, as they cater to about 60% of the total commuting requirements.[3]
Private vehicles account for 30%[citation needed] of the total demand for transportation, while the rest of the demand is met largely by auto-rickshaws, taxis, rapid transit system and railways.
Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) serves Delhi for both domestic and international air connections, and is situated in the south-western corner of the city. In 2005-2006, IGI recorded a traffic of more than 20.44 million passengers. (Both Domestic and International),[4] Heavy air-traffic has stressed on the need for a secondary airport, which is expected to come-up in the form of Taj International Airport near Greater Noida, alongside Delhi-Agra highway.
The Delhi government is planning to have 120 km of metro, 292 km of brt, and 50 km each of monorail and light rail by 2020. [5]
Intra-City Transport
Road Transport
Transportation in Delhi is largely dependent upon roads. Railways, including rapid transit systems like Delhi Metro, serve only 1% of the total demand. Roads in Delhi are maintained by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC), Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB), Public Works Department (PWD) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA). At 1749 km of road length per 100 km², Delhi has one of the highest road densities in India. Major roadways include the Ring Road and the Outer Ring Road, which had a traffic density of 110,000 vehicles per day in 2001. Total road length of Delhi was 28,508 km, including 388 km of National Highways.
Major road-based public transport facilities in Delhi are provided by buses, auto-rickshaws, taxis and cycle-rickshaws.
Buses
Delhi has one of India's largest bus transport system. Buses are operated by the state-owned Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), which owns largest fleet of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-fueled buses in the world, private Blueline bus operators and several chartered bus operators. It is mandatory for all private bus operators to acquire a permit from the State Transport Authority.
The buses traverse various well-defined intra-city routes. Other than regular routes, buses also travel on Railway Special routes; Metro Feeder routes. Mudrika (Ring) and Bahri Mudrika (Outer Ring) routes along Ring and Outer-Ring road respectively are amongst the longest intra-city bus routes in the world.
With the introduction of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the development of dedicated corridors for the service, bus service is set to improve further. Of late, the DTC has started introducing air-conditioned buses and brand new low-floor buses on city streets to replace the conventional buses. A revamp plan is underway to improve bus-shelters in the city and to integrate GPS(Global Positioning System) systems in DTC buses and bus stops so as to provide reliable information about bus arrivals. Many other modernization plans are also in the pipe-line.
In 2007, after public uproar concerning the large number of accidents caused by privately-owned Blueline buses, the Delhi government, under pressure from the Delhi High Court decided that all Blueline Buses shall be phased out and be eventually replaced by the state-owned DTC fleet.[6]
Auto-Rickshaws
The auto-rickshaws (popularly known as Auto) are an important and popular means of public transportation in Delhi, as they are cheaper than taxis. Hiring an Auto in Delhi is very tricky, as very few auto-drivers agree to standard meter charges. The typical method is to haggle for an agreeable rate. This rarely is a source of conflict, because the fares charged are modest and the ride ensures speedy arrival to the destination.
Taxis
Though easily available, taxis are not an integral part of Delhi public transport. The Indian Tourism Ministry and various private owners operate most taxis. The Tourism Ministry grants private companies permits to operate taxis.
Recently, Radio Taxis have started to gain ground in Delhi. Brands such as Mega Cabs, Ezee Cabs, etc, provide the on-call radio taxi service, which is slightly more expensive than conventional Black and Yellow taxis. Other than these two mentioned, companies such as Hertz Car Rental and Avis Car Rental provide rent-a-car service.
Cycle-Rickshaws
Cycle-Rickshaws are a popular mode of travel for short distance transits in the city. The pedal-powered rickshaws are easily available throughout the city and reckoned for being cheap and environment friendly. Often, tourists and citizens use them for joyrides, too. Of late, they have been phased out from the congested areas of Chandni Chowk because of their slow pace, which often leads to traffic snarls on the streets of Old Delhi.
Major Arteries
Inner Ring Road
Inner Ring Road is one of the most important "state highways" in Delhi. It is a 51 km long circular road, which connects important areas in Delhi. Owing to more than 2 dozen grade-separators/flyovers, the road is almost signal-free. The road is generally 8-laned with a few bottlenecks at certain stretches, which are beind removed. The road has already achieved its carrying capacity of 110000 vehicles per day and would require an expansion to 18-24 lanes to fulfill needs of increasing traffic by 2011.
Outer Ring Road
Outer Ring Road is another major artery in Delhi. The road which was almost neglected till early 2000s is now an important highway that links far-flung areas of Delhi. The road is generally 6-8 lane and has grade-separators and a large number are under construction as a part of project to make the artery signal free. The road along with the ring road forms a ring which intersects all the National Highways passing through Delhi.
Rail Transport
Rail based transport in the city has started to gain-popularity with the introduction of Delhi Metro. Ring-Railway, which runs parallel to the Ring-Road system is another rail-based intra-city transport facility in Delhi.
Metro
Rapid increase of population coupled majorly owing to large-scale immigration due to high economic growth rate has resulted in ever increasing demand for better transport, putting excessive pressure on the city's existent transport infrastructure. Like many other cities in the developing world, the city faces acute transport management problems leading to air pollution, congestion and resultant loss of productivity. In order to meet the transportation demand in Delhi, the State and Union government started the construction of an ambitious Mass Rapid Transit system, known as Delhi Metro in 1998. The project started commercial operations on December 24' 2002. It is alleged to have set many performance and efficiency records ever since and is continuously expanding at a very rapid pace. As of 2007, the metro operates 3 lines with a total length of 65.70 km[7] and 59 stations[8] while several other lines are under construction.
Description of three Delhi Metro lines that currently operate -
As of July, 2007:
| Line name | Number | Between stations | Length (km) | No. of stations | Rolling stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ● Red Line | 1 | Shahdara - Rithala | 22.06 | 18 | 23 trains |
| ● Yellow Line | 2 | Vishwa Vidyalaya - Central Secretariat | 10.84 | 10 | 13 trains |
| ● Blue Line | 3 | Indraprastha - Dwarka Sub City | 32.10 | 31 | 24 trains |
The second phase (Phase II) which is under construction has 128 km of route length and is slated to be completed by 2010. Phases III (112 km) and IV (108.5 km) will be completed by 2015 and 2020 respectively, with the network totalling 413.8 km, making it longer than the London Underground. With further development of the city, the network will be further expanded by adding new lines, thus crossing 500 km by 2020.
Ring Railway
Ring railway is a circular rail network in Delhi, which runs parallel to the Ring Road and was conceived during the Asian Games of 1982. The system is not popular amongst people and a total failure as far as public transport is considered. The major reasons for failure of the system are lack of proper connectivity, less population density in areas of reach. The network is now utilized as a freight corridor and limited passenger train services are available during peak hours.
Inter-state transport
Railway connectivity
Delhi is connected to whole of the nation through Indian Railways vast network. New Delhi Railway Station which is one of the most busiest stations in Indian Railway system serves as headquarter of Northern Railways. A large load of inter-state transport is borne by railways. Major railway stations in the city include New Delhi, Old Delhi, Hazrat Nizammuddin. A large number of local passenger trains connect Delhi to its sub-urban areas and thus provide convenient travel for daily commuters.
Railways share a large amount of freight traffic in Delhi.
Road
Highways
The city is believed to have highest road density in the country and is well connected to rest of the nation through five major national highways, namely NH 1, NH 2, NH 8, NH 10 and NH 24. The highways around city are being upgraded into expressways with ultra-modern faciliies.
Bus services
Regular bus services are available from inter-state bus terminals in the city. The services are extended to all the northern states and the neighbouring areas of Delhi. Services are provided by state transport corporations and several private operators. The inter-state terminals in city are -
- Kashmiri Gate ISBT in northern Delhi
- Aanad Vihar ISBT in Trans-Yamuna area
- Dhaula Kuan ISBT in southerms Delhi
Airports
Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) serves Delhi for both domestic and international connections, and is situated in the southwestern corner of the city, alongside Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. In the year 2006-2007, IGI recorded a traffic of 20.44 million passengers. By 2008-2009, it will be the busiest airport in South Asia, thus also making it one of the busiest in all of Asia itself.[9] It operates two terminals — Terminal 1 for domestic and Terminal 2 for international air travel.
The airport is witnessing massive expansion and modernisation by a consortia led by GMR. The airport will get its third runway in August 2008 and a new integrated Terminal 3 by 2010. Terminals 4, 5 and 6 will be built in a phased manner. By 2024, airport will have 4 runways and will handle more than 100 million passengers per annum, which is more than what Atlanta airport (world's busiest airport) handles now[10].
Apart from the expanded IGI airport, Delhi will also receive its second airport by 2012-2013. The airport being named as Taj International Aviation Hub, would be located in Jewar in Greater Noida. It would be 75 km from IGI airport.
Future Projects
There are many transport infrastructure projects underway in Delhi. Most have there deadlines set in late 2009 and early 2010, right before the 2010 Commonwealth Games. They are listed below -
Road
- High Capacity Bus Corridors
- Upgraded Taxi system
- Total Revamp of DTC bus fleet, to include low-floor and air-conditioned buses.
- Development of Eastern and Western Peripheral Highways to take off the load of inter-state traffic from roads of Delhi.
Rail
- Upgradation of New Delhi and Old Delhi railway stations of Northern Railways.
- Expansion of existing Delhi Metro network, including a super-fast line to connect IGI Airport.
- Introduction of Monorail (45 km) and Light Rail Transit (45 km) by 2010[11].
- Revamp of Ring Railway.
Air
- Revamp of IGI Airport is underway to improve its infrastructure, passenger capacity and efficiency.
- A secondary airport is in planning stages and will come up near Greater Noida.
References and Notes
- ^ Traffic snarl snaps 42 Cr man-hour from Delhi, NCR workers at iGovernment
- ^ Traffic snarl snaps 42 Cr man-hour from Delhi, NCR workers at iGovernment
- ^ "Delhi Transport" (PDF). Delhi Govt. Retrieved 2006-05-14.
- ^ "Delhi – Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI Airport) information". Essential Travel Ltd., UK. Retrieved 2006-04-29.
- ^ http://www.downtoearth.org.in/cover.asp?foldername=20080531&filename=news&sid=48&page=4&sec_id=9&p=1
- ^ http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14541909 Sify news report
- ^ List of Metro systems in world
- ^ Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
- ^ Delhi – Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)
- ^ 2nd airport won’t hit IGI, says govt
- ^ Monorail to hit Delhi streets by 2010-Delhi-Cities-The Times of India
See also
- Bus rapid transit (BRT)
- clean development mechanism
- Delhi Metro
- Delhi Transport Corporation
- Highways passing from Delhi