16 int'l firms bid for metro feasibility study in Valley

KATHMANDU, May 5: Residents of Kathmandu Valley, who want to see underground train (metro) service operate in the capital to relieve them of traffic congestion, will have to wait for nine months to know whether starting such service is feasible.

The Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MoPPW) has stated that it will receive the feasibility report of the proposed project within nine months. [break]

The ministry had last month called for global tender to conduct the feasibility study of metro rail in the Valley. “A total 16 foreign companies had applied,” said Ram Kumar Lamsal, chief of the Railway Project under MoPPW.

The government had allocated budget to conduct feasibility study of the proposed metro in the budget for 2066/67.

Companies based in India, US, UK, France, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Singapore and Germany had submitted their Expression of Interest (EoI) to conduct feasibility study till Monday, the last day of submission.

16 global firms have bid for feasibility study

Metro could be a combination of underground, mono- and elevated train

It will be 75-km long, cover all four entrances to the Valley and city core

Construction mooted under PPP

“All these companies have experiences of metro construction,” said Lamsal, adding that the ministry was buoyed by the type of response the project has managed to draw.

MoPPW has said it would short-list three to six firms from among the total applicants as per the existing Public Procurement Act and select the firm on the basis of their technical and financial proposal.

As per the plan, the proposed metro service will be a combination of underground, mono rail and elevated train keeping in view the topography of the Kathmandu Valley.

“It will be some 75 kilometers long and cover all four entrances to the valley, traversing through the core city area,” Tulsi Prasad Sitaula, joint secretary at the MoPPW Sitaula told Republica.

According to Sitaula, metro service will be divided into four sections that include 27 km section along the ring road, 10 km from North- South stretching from Bansbari to Lagankhel, East-West section from Kalanki-Tinkune and also along some river corridors.

“The plan is to construct the metro service under Public Private Partnership model as government funding alone will not be sufficient to build the mega project,” said Sitaula.

Likewise, the proposed Department of Railways (DoR) has sought a budget of Rs 7.30 billion from the government in the new fiscal year to conduct detailed survey of eight railway projects, including the much-touted East-West Electric Railway.