Visakhapatnam Metro Rail Project to be completed in ten years

Botcha Satyanarayana, the Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development in Andhra Pradesh, on Saturday, announced that the Visakhapatnam Metro Rail Project will be taken up in three phases for which over 10 years, work on corridors in different routes will be commencing soon. The metro rail project in the port city is estimated to cost Rs 8,300 crore. The trackless metro corridor will almost be invisible railway lines placed on the flooring which are operated by magnetic strips and sensors.

The project of Visakhapatnam Metro has reportedly been given to the Amaravati Metro Rail project Managing Director Ramakrishna Reddy. A master metro rail plan for the area has been prepared by Amaravati Metro Rail Corporation Limited.

In the first phase of the project, the highway corridor will be extended until the Vizag Steel Plant, instead of ending at Gajuwaka.

The conditions of the bidding process allow AMRC with a right to increase or decrease the length of the project by 15 percent. However, according to the direction of the state government, the AMRC has taken a decision of extending the project to 46.42 km. The length of the other two corridors— Old Post Office Junction to Gurudwara Junction (5.29 km) and Thatchipalem to China Waltair (6.91 km) will remain as per the original plan. The second phase of the project will cover 77.31 km and the third phase will cover 16.4 km stretching from Rushikonda to Bheemili.

Minister Botcha Satyanarayana said the tendering process will begin in a few weeks, and the ministry is keen on completing the project on time.

In the second and third phases, the various proposals considered for the project include trackless metro trains on the beachfront. The intention of the trackless metro trains is to increase the aesthetic value of the beach stretch. The 140 km-long project could be taken up in a mixed-model system with some having elevated corridors and some having other models, said the AMRC officials.