Ease of transportation has been a major cause of concern for most of the Indian citizens. Metro railways came as a saviour to a large chunk of the commuters in the country. Now, the Central government has decided to set up standard specifications for the Metro-Neo. These Metro railways are different from the regular ones as they are specifically designed for low-cost urban rails with no-frills. It will also run in urban areas with a population of less than 10 Lakhs and the suburban regions of metropolitan cities.

The special features of these trains include rubber tires that will run on traction power retrieved from overhead wires. They will be much smaller in size and lighter compared to the present metro railways. This Metro-neo setup will be suitable for places which have a traffic demand of a maximum of 80,000 people on a hectic day. As per the sources, the entire cost of production and management is merely 25% of the conventional metro railways.

Even though the train is smaller than the conventional ones, it will be much better in terms of cost, vibration management, and acceleration. An interesting feature of the Neo-Metro is that its coaches will be able to run completely on battery in areas of non-OHE zones. Additionally, the plan also includes adding a telecom network to connect the various coaches and provide a smart passenger information system.

As per the officials, states that have rooted for such Metro-Neos include Maharashtra and Telangana. In Telangana, the commuters from Warangal will gain from the benefits of such railways. Similarly, Nashik in Maharashtra is a small city that is planning to construct at least 30 such stations on a 33 Km stretch of rail line. This proposal is being managed by the Urban Affairs Ministry of Maharashtra at present.

Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary for MoHUA said that he is confident that these Neo-Metro railways will be beneficial for areas having a population of approximately 5 Lakhs and that these areas will be able to enjoy a mass rapid transit system soon enough. The specifications’ approval will be given on November 9, at the 13^th Urban Mobility India Conference. A total of 910 Km of such Metro railway projects are set to be built in the next 5 years by the Government of India.