The Union cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the Patna metro rail project. Two corridors of a total length of 41 km have been given the go-ahead at a cost of Rs. 13,370 crores. The project is expected to be completed in five years.
Network details
In the first phase, one of the corridors, Danapur to Mithapur, is 17 km long. Out of this, 11.2 km has been planned underground due to passage through densely populated areas of the city. This corridor has 8 underground and 3 elevated stations.
The other corridor, Patna railway station to New ISBT, is 14.45 km long. It is mostly elevated, with 4.5 km to be constructed underground. This stretch will have 12 stations, out of which 3 will be underground.
Like with all upcoming metros, feeder services to route traffic to the metro networks are planned.
Long delayed
A metro network for Patna was first proposed in 2011. Various issues and revision of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) delayed final approvals for several years.
The Prime Minister is likely to lay the foundation stone for the project on 17th of February 2019.