Varanasi Metro

Varanasi Metro
Overview
Owner	Varanasi Development Authority
Locale	Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Transit type	Rapid transit
Number of lines	2 (proposed)
Number of stations	26 (proposed)
Operation
Train length	3 coaches
Technical
System length	29.235 km (18.166 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Varanasi Metro was a rapid transit proposed for the city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. The proposed system consisted of 2 corridors span from BHEL (Tarna, Shivpur) to Banaras Hindu University (19.35 km) and Benia Bagh to Sarnath (9.885 km). The feasibility study of the project was done by RITES and was completed in June 2015.

However, the good ridership in Varanasi is doubtful like other towns in Uttar Pradesh. The most feasible cities of having metro rails are Lucknow and Noida because these cities have the strong number of daily commuters which includes the public from other parts of the state and within the city itself.No other towns of the state are having the metro culture like Lucknow and Noida. Government is in much doubt to construct metro in these small towns of UP. The huge fund is needed for these projects and government is thinking repeatedly as the money must not go in waste. Lucknow metro rail corporation has got the responsibility to implement the work here. The suggestions are not to construct metro in towns like Kanpur, Meerut, Agra, Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Moradabad, Bareilly, Kannauj, Shikohabad, and Gorakhpur etc. However, the government should think to connect these towns to nearby big cities via rapid transport will be a good and feasible idea. Metro Rail was likely to be completed around 2023, except the Varanasi Metro Rail Project was rejected due to lack of funds in June 2018. There would have been 26 stations including 20 underground and six elevated in the two corridors which would have included total length of 29.235 km consisting of 23.467 km underground, while 5.768 km would have been elevated.

History

Uttar Pradesh state government had planned to introduce a metro rail system in cities of Varanasi, Kanpur, Meerut and Agra. Government has hired an infrastructure development enterprise, RITES to conduct a traffic analysis. The government had planned to approach RITES for a detailed project including feasibility and financial viability.

Cost

The total estimated completion cost for construction of Varanasi Metro was estimated to be Rs. 17,227 Crores including taxes and duties. The project is envisaged to be undertaken as a Joint Venture (JV) project between the Government of India (GoI) and the Government of Uttar Pradesh (GoUP) with 50:50 equity partnerships. To maintain the financial viability of the project, additional grants have been proposed from the two governments in addition to their equity contribution.

Route

Two corridors had been planned by Varanasi Development Authority were:

• Corridor 1: BHEL to Banaras Hindu University and (19.35 km)

A total of 17 Metro stations had been planned (4 Elevated: 3.845 km; 13 Underground: 15.505 km) for the BHEL to BHU corridor.

S.No.	Stations	Station level
1	BHEL (Tarna)	Elevated
2	Tarna	Elevated
3	Shivpur	Elevated
4	Sangam Colony	Elevated
5	Gilat Bazar	Underground
6	Bhojubeer	Underground
7	Collectorate	Underground
8	Nadesar	Underground
9	Varanasi Junction	Underground
10	Kashi Vidyapeeth	Underground
11	Rathyatra	Underground
12	Benia Bagh	Underground
13	Kashi Vishwanath (Chitranjan Park)	Underground
14	Bangali Tola	Underground
15	Ratnakar Park	Underground
16	Tulsi Manas Mandir	Underground
17	Banaras Hindu University (BHU)	Underground

• Corridor 2: Benia Bagh to Sarnath (9.885 km)

A total of 9 Metro stations (2 Elevated: 1.923 km; 7 Underground: 7.962 km) had been proposed for the Benia Bagh to Sarnath corridor.

S.No.	Stations	Station level
1	Benia Bagh	Underground
2	Kotwali	Underground
3	Machodri Park	Underground
4	Kashi Bus Depot	Underground
5	Jalalipura	Underground
6	Punchkroshi	Elevated
7	Asapur	Elevated
8	Havelia	Underground
9	Sarnath	Underground

The first corridor from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) to BHEL will take about four years, while the second corridor from Benia Bagh to Sarnath will be completed in two years. However, the date of the beginning of the project is yet to be decided.

Detailed Project Report Findings

The Government of Uttar Pradesh (GoUP) had assigned Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) the responsibility of ‘Coordinator’ for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Metro in Varanasi. Varanasi Development Authority (VDA) is the nodal agency for preparation of this DPR for Varanasi Metro. For this purpose M/s RITES, a Govt of India Undertaking, has been engaged for preparing the DPR. Work on preparation of DPR for Metro in Varanasi commenced in May, 2015 involving series of site visits by LMRC team led by LMRC and RITES along with VDA officials. Through successive site visits, engineering surveys and review meetings/ discussions with the Commissioner, Varanasi and VDA officials, Metro corridors have been finalised for Varanasi city and DPR prepared.

Under the coordination of Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC), M/s RITES had been able to prepare the DPR. The DPR envisages two corridors with a total length of 29.235 km for the Varanasi Metro Rail project. The first corridor that spreads from BHEL to BHU covers 19.35 km with an elevated stretch of 3.845 km and an underground stretch of 15.505 km. The second corridor consisting of 9.885 km length from Benia Bagh to Sarnath covers an elevated section of 1.923 km and an underground section of 7.962 km.

According to the DPR, a maintenance depot for both the corridors had been proposed at Ganeshpur covering an area of 13.2 hectares of land. Metro in Varanasi will be a three-car unit train running on standard gauge track on Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) signalling technology with continuous automatic train control permitting an operational headway of 90 seconds.

Project Status updates

• May 2016: Detailed Project Report approved.
• September 2017: Detailed Project Report dropped due new metro rail policy. New Detailed Project Report to be created by RITES.
• December 2017: New Detailed Project Report (DPR) to be commissioned under 'New Metro Rail Policy'.
• June 2018: Varanasi Metro Rail Project rejected due to lack of funds.