Centre steers clears ₹17,000 cr Patna metro project

While fixing Patna on the metro rail radar, the Union government has recently cleared the much-awaited Patna metro rail project involving an investment of ₹17,000 crore, state urban development minister Suresh Kumar Sharma said that a north-south corridor from Patna junction to the proposed interstate bus terminal (ISBT) at Ramachak Bairiya via NIT-Patna and Rajendra Nagar Terminal is being given priority. Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) is preparing the DPR and alternative analysis as per the Centre‘s new guidelines. Work on the project is set to start this financial year on the 6 km-long north-south corridor in the first phase. The north-south corridor will mostly run on an elevated stretch while a part of it will be made underground. As running the metro line underground escalates the project cost the major parts of the metro corridor will be on elevated structure. In the second phase, the work will begin on east-west corridor from Mithapur Bus Stand to Saguna Mor via Bailey Road and Patna junction, covering a distance of 14.5 km, he added.