Work to begin on Metrino project in 6 months: Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Government's ambitious Rs 4,000 crore ' Metrino' public transport project, which will enable people to travel in driverless pods suspended to a ropeway in the national capital region, will hit the ground soon.

A presentation on the project was made before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the entire Union Cabinet last evening and the work would start within six months, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said today.

To start with, the Metrino project will connect the 70-km stretch from Dhaula Kuan to Manesar in Haryana.

"A detailed project report on the Metrino project will be prepared within a couple of months and the work may start within six months," Gadkari told PTI.

He said if all went as per plans Delhi will have Metrino in two years time which will decongest national capital region's highways as the pilot project is planned between the 70-km stretch from Dhaula Kuan to Manesar on NH-8.

"The ropeway like system runs on electricity and driverless pods will come down at the designated station thus removing the traffic burden from already congested roads. The capital cost of metro is Rs 250 crore per km whereas this will cost Rs 50 crore per km," he said.

Gadkari said massive work is underway to reform the face of the highways sector and the pilot project will be one such step in this direction.

Under the project, fully automatic, driverless small pods travel independently suspended over an overhead network which is usually 5-10 meters above ground.

Meanwhile, an official said that Delhi government has also shown keen interest in the project.