6 Modern Transport Systems That Can Transform Indian Cities

From good old days of bullock cart, horse carriage, and hand-pulled rickshaws to modern railways, bus transits, metros, and aircrafts, the transport system in India has come a long way. Indian cities are constantly reshaping themselves to face the modern day transportation challenges. Every Indian city has its unique transportation apparatus that is compatible to its local needs. Be it the yellow taxi or tram of Kolkata or tuktuk of UP and Rajasthan, Delhi's swanky metro facility to Mumbai's monorail, one can see the changing face of Indian transportation set up and complementing the still existing old transport systems. With the government now thinking about the interlinking of rivers in the country and bringing more money and investments to the transportation sector, the large cities will have more in their kitty to spend and prepare for the next stage.

PropGuide lists out six new transportation systems in India that will decongest the ever growing traffic in cities, make nature less vulnerable to pollutants and boost the Indian economy at large.

Metro is the new swag

Although Kolkata was the first city in India to have underground mass transit system in India, the trend has now changed and other cities have taken a lead in the metro rail race. All major cities in India are now developing a metro rail system, a story which began with Delhi Metro.

Delhi's Metro system is the world's 12th largest metro system in terms of length. Around 2,000 trips run with an interval of between 1–2 minutes between trains at peak hours and 4–10 minutes at non-peak hours, daily. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as it helps reduce pollution levels in the city by 6,30,000 tonne every year, according to the United Nations.

More cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Jaipur, and Bengaluru have started their own metro rail services. Lucknow, Hyderabad, Pune, and Kochi will also have their metro rail system soon.

The Delhi Metro is the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (Wikimedia)

More air connectivity

With the growing purchasing power of India's middle-class, air travel is now within any ones reach. Air travel is safer, faster, and gives value for money. It also reduces the pressure from our roads. Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport has been planned to handle a nearly 100 million passengers from the existing 40 million passengers.

In 2014, the airport handled a total of 39.752 million passengers, registering a 8.4 per cent growth in traffic over the previous year and became the 12th busiest airports in Asia, according to Airports Council International. Similarly, Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport handled 36.6 million passengers and 694,300 tonnes of cargo during FY 2014–2015. More and more cities are coming up with greenfield and no-frills airports with the help of the government.

Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport handled 36.6 million passengers and 694,300 tonnes of cargo during FY 2014–2015. (Wikimedia)

Greener buses

Buses cater to about more than half of any city's total population. That's why now cities are bringing eco-friendly buses that emit fewer pollutants. Delhi's Transport Corporation (DTC) owns largest fleet of compressed natural gas-fuelled (CNG) buses in the world. Mumbai's buses run by Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) are not only disabled-friendly and air-conditioned, but are also Euro III compliant diesel and CNG-powered movers.

The all new BEST buses in Mumbai, which are Euro III compliant diesel. (Wikimedia)

Indian railways' changing avatar

Railways has long been India's transportation backbone. And, after years of stagnant technology and systems, the Indian Railway is now preparing to upgrade itself. Recently, Japan agreed to modernise 400 railway stations across the country while participating in Indian Railways' $140 billion investment over the next five years. Google, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Silicon Valley, also agreed to provide free Wi-Fi at 500 Indian railway stations taking them a step closer to facilities provided at airport lounges.

Moreover, Centre recently cleared the redevelopment of the railway stations through open invitation from interested parties with their designs and business ideas, including permitting commercial development of real estate by the zonal railways.

Apart from this the upcoming Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor will be India's first high speed rail line. The project is estimated to cost ₹90,000 crores.

Google agreed to provide free Wi-Fi at 500 Indian railway stations taking them a step closer to facilities provided at airport lounges. (Wikimedia)

River connectivity

This could be a big step towards the way we travel in India. On September 16, the Godavari and Krishna rivers were linked through a canal in Andhra Pradesh. The second scheme, the Ken-Betwa river project is currently underway and would be completed by year-end. The entire transportation business in all the cities, which are situated along the banks of these rivers, will see a massive transformation. The government aims to connect 37 rivers in India, so that the water-surplus rivers could be dammed, and the extra flow can be diverted to rivers that could use it. Nearly 30 canals, 50-100 meters in width, will be spread around 15,000 kilometres. Newly created network of canals will open new routes of water navigation, which is generally more efficient and cheaper compared to road transport.

The government aims to connect 37 rivers in India. (Pixabay)

Delivery by drones

Although in its initial stage, we all would soon be getting our goods delivered not by humans, but drones. Companies such as Amazon.com, in March this year after receiving an approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), started testing a delivery drone prototype for its Prime Air service. With India's growing information technology sector, we will soon see drones flying over our heads to parcel our goods. This new technology can have a huge impact in terms of pollution control, time saving, and less human interference.

 Delivery by drones will soon be a reality. (Wikimedia)