Feasibility of trams for the city to be examined

VADODARA: The

Vadodara Municipal Corporation

(VMC) along with representatives of an Indian railway coach component manufacturing company and a Chinese rolling stock manufacturer will conduct the feasibility study for a tram service in the city.

Officials of the civic body as well as the representatives of the two companies held a meeting on Friday to discuss the project.

The tram service is seen as a better alternative than metro, monorail or BRTS. Also, trams can ply on existing roads without eating into the road space.

VMC mayor Bharat Dangar said that representatives of

Hindustan Fiber Glass Ltd

that worked on the coaches for the Mahamana Express and

CRRC Corporation Ltd

from China and has expertise in making rolling stock including trams had visited VMC’s headquarters on Thursday.

“We held preliminary discussions regarding the possibility of having trams in the city. A feasibility report will now be prepared,” he said.

Sources said that a team comprising of VMC officials as well as experts from the two private companies will conduct a survey in the city on Friday. It is expected that the team will prepare the feasibility report for the tram service in a month’s time.

Presently two routes are being considered for the service. These include the 40m internal ring road and the Vishwamitri riverfront. The route is expected to be around 25km along the ring road and 20km along the riverfront.