TRANSPORTATION IN DELHI - Future Options
Dr. P.S. Rana

It is well known fact that transportation demand increases exponentially with increase in population of a city.  When a city reaches the size of a metropolis or a mega city, not only the trip rate but the length of each trip also increases.  The proportion of trips that can be undertaken by walking and cycling becomes insignificant and dependence on motorised modes increases considerably. Delhi has been no exception.

Since Independence, Delhi has grown from a small administrative city of under one million to a multi-functional mega city of nearly 10 million.  In spite of such rapid growth in population and travel needs Delhi remains most unfortunate, among the mega cities of the country, in respect of a high capacity public mass transport system.  The buses are the only means of mass transportation, carrying about six million passengers per day with an average trip length of over 14 kms. Due to inadequate public transport capacity the public has been left to fend for itself, resulting in an enormous growth of private vehicles particularly, two-wheelers. Today, Delhi accounts for about 12 percent of the total vehicles in the country, which is much higher than the total number of vehicles in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras put together.

Ironically, Delhi was one of the few cities in the country to have proper Master Plan to guide and control its development as early as 1961.  Its guiding principle was self-containment of each Planning Division.  It had envisaged about 15 district centres to attain decentralisation and self-containment to achieve a poly-nodal city. The Plan remained a dream; the policy envisaged could not be realised in practice as the implementation was totally divorced from the basic Plan.

On the other hand, detailed studies for a Mass Rail Based Transit System initiated in the late sixties have been considered beyond its means due to the high cost of implementation.  The latest estimates of a total MRT System is estimated around Rs. 9,000 to 10,000 crores.  Due to non-development of a high capacity system, the city structure and densities have adjusted itself as far as possible to the road based modes.

The transportation system has been known to act as a catalyst to dictate the structure, size, density and development of any city.  Rail-based Mass Transportation System are most energy efficient, reliable, fast and cost effective for mass movement.  Delhi fortunately has a number of radial railway lines connected by a ring corridor as part of the regional network.

Surface railway corridors within the city boundaries and their extensions into the NCR and beyond are crucial towards achieving an efficient and reliable transport system and containing the growth of population within the manageable limits.

The following steps are strongly recommended in this direction.

When the number of towns along the corridors increase and traffic along the corridors increase and traffic builds up, it would be necessary to segregate the high speed trains from local trains by providing two pairs of tracks.  India has the second largest rail network and its technology is well proven.  By improving the design of EMUs and upgrading the signalling systems along the routes, we can provide an efficient and the most cost effective system of transportation in Delhi and its region.

Dr. P.S. Rana has done his doctorate in Public Transport and was with the planning and R&D section of Delhi Transport Corporation.  He is currently Executive Director, HUDCO.

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