[sustran] Re: Chennai monorail controversy

[Eric Bruun]

I would suggest that concerned individuals have a look at the Seattle Monorail fiasco. 
It shouldn't be hard to follow if one goes to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Seatte Times
websites and does an archival search.

Eric Bruun


-----Original Message-----
>From: John Ernst <itdpasia at adelphia.net>
>Sent: Feb 6, 2006 1:11 PM
>To: Asia and the Pacific sustainable transport <sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
>Subject: [sustran] Re: Chennai monorail controversy
>
>The experience in Chennai appears to be 
>increasingly common in the larger Asian 
>cities.  Following some initial work by ITDP, 
>Hyderabad was considering a BRT system, but 
>monorail and rail companies quickly came in with enticing proposals.
>
>Typically, these companies overestimate demand 
>and promise a totally self-sustaining system 
>running with only private investment.  Though 
>untrue, the promise is still appealing to governments.
>
>After one false start, Jakarta had a privately 
>financed monorail start construction.  But the 
>company soon came to the government asking for a 
>subsidy, then stopped construction.  The governor 
>set a deadline of 6 days ago for the company to 
>get started again or he would look for yet another set of investors...
>
>It seems monorail is an easy dream to sell, a hard one to fulfill.
>
>Best,
>John
>
>At 12:18 AM 2/6/2006, Paul Barter wrote:
>>content-class: urn:content-classes:message
>>Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
>>         boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01C62AED.77CA1878"
>>
>>Some of you may be interested to know that 
>>Chennai (formerly Madras) in India is in the 
>>midst of a heated controversy over public transport.
>>
>>The Tamil Nadu state government decision to opt 
>>for a huge monorail network is the issue.
>>See 
>><http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=chennai+monorail&btnG=Search+News>http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=chennai+btnG=Search+News 
>>for the latest.
>>
>>Both 'Metro' supporters and BRT supporters seem 
>>to be weighing in (with the heavy rail 
>>supporters louder and more influential it seems).
>>
>><http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/03/stories/2006020315440700.htm>http://www.hindu.com/2006/02/03/stories/2006020315440700.htm 
>>(Monorail plan ill-advised: Sreedharan)
>>"The Tamil Nadu Government's decision to go for 
>>monorail for Chennai city to meet its growing 
>>traffic needs is most `unfortunate' as it will 
>>not help meet the transport requirement of city 
>>commuters," says Delhi Metro Rail Corporation managing director E. Sreedharan.
>>
>>Already the State had burnt its fingers with the 
>>"ill-advised" mass rapid transit system (MRTS) 
>>and the monorail would be its another 
>>"ill-advised venture," he said in a letter to the State Government.
>>
>>The State, which had asked the DMRC to submit a 
>>comprehensive report for a rail based metro 
>>system for Chennai, dashed off a letter to the 
>>Corporation recently asking it to stop all its investigations and surveys.
>>
>>Expressing surprise over the decision, Mr. 
>>Sreedharan suspected that the State had been 
>>"influenced by monorail lobby with its tall 
>>claims and false promises." The lobby, the 
>>letter noted, had already stalled the metro project in Bangalore. 

>>
>>or 
>><http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/29/stories/2006012901640500.htm>http://www.hindu.com/2006/01/29/stories/2006012901640500.htm 
>>(Divergent views emerge on utility of monorail project)
>>
>>Any comments?
>>
>>Paul
>>
>>Paul A. Barter  |  Assistant Professor  |  LKY 
>>School of Public Policy  |  National University 
>>of Singapore  |  29 Heng Mui Keng 
>>Terrace  |  Singapore 119620  |  Tel: 
>>&#4365;-6516 3324  |  Fax: &#4365;-6778 
>>1020  |  Email:  paulbarter at nus.edu.sg  | 
>><http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/faculty/paulbarter/>http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/faculty/paulbarter/ 
>>
>>
>>I am speaking for myself, not for my employers.
>>Are you interested in urban transport in 
>>developing countries? Then try 
>><http://urbantransportasia.blogspot.com/>http://urbantransportasia.blogspot.com/ 
>>
>>And consider joining the SUSTRAN-DISCUSS list, 
>><http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss>http://list.jca.apc.org/manage/listinfo/sustran-discuss 
>>or <http://www.geocities.com/sustrannet/>http://www.geocities.com/sustrannet/
>>
>>
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>>SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion 
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>>the list, the main focus is on urban transport policy in Asia.
>
>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>John Ernst   -  Director, Asia Region
>    ITDP - The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
>Promoting environmentally sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide
>  Visit http://www.itdp.org
>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
>
>
>
>================================================================
>SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on developing countries (the 'Global South'). Because of the history of the list, the main focus is on urban transport policy in Asia.