[sustran] Re: Chennai monorail controversy

[Lee Schipper]

But one need only look to Bangkok to see the same problem...and the Seattle Monorail, like Bangkok, or the Metro in Lima, has many adherents. Something is not convincing to certain people!

>>> Eric Bruun <ericbruun at earthlink.net> 2/6/2006 9:26:27 PM >>>

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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>
>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>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.



================================================================
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.