Mu Sigma Observational Test Questions and Answers

The trains reach the station with a tenuous sound. The entryways slide open and people of diverse echelon moves in and out. A chime dings, the entryways close and whisks its travellers to the following stop.

This sight may appear to be completely conventional in cities like Berlin or Bangkok, Stockholm or Singapore. But, here in the sweat-soaked cities of India, this successful accomplishment known as the Metro, offers new expectation that India’s flimsy urban foundation can be dragged into the modernity of the 21st century.

“The metro maybe is the most driven urban foundation venture since India won its independence.Its growth has been closely watched in the nations’ highly populated cities where traffic congestion is immense. Its buses are slow, hot and crowded. Until recently, there was only railways with the long-distance lines to the rest of the country,” said B.J. Antony,Senior Deputy Commissioner and Advisor to Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL).

India is among the concentrated nations for Metro AG, a German global diversified retail and wholesale/cash and carry group.Being metro rail’s major sponsors,the company has split it’s operations into North-East and South-West to edge with local core interest. “Metro India had no local heads before this year but as the project expanded ,the company understood that every district is not the same as the other as far as utilization, collection of stock, value aggressiveness is concerned,”said Arun Kumar A S, Appellate Authority,KMRL.

The metro’s principles are highly upheld. Spitting, a common habit of most typical Indian men, is prohibited. So is sitting on the floor, a usual practice of travelers without tickets, who squat on the normal tight packed trains.Eating and drinking are to be avoided as well.

There has been a developing enthusiasm among policymakers about the significance of rail-based frameworks to address the versatility needs of the growing population in the urban communities. While assessing distinctive travel choices for Indian urban communities, metro frameworks are frequently given inclination because of the conviction that road based transport system cannot take into account the capacity requirements as much as metro networks. Metro rails also have higher levels of comfort, speed and proficiency than other transport systems,making them more attractive to both policymakers and potential travellers.

“The Planning Commission’s proposition for the Twelfth Five-Year plan for urban transport has recommended that every Indian city with a populace more than two million need to start planning rail transit projects and urban areas with a population more than three million need to begin implementing metro rails. An expected investment for the improvement of metro rails in Indian urban areas is USD 26.1 billion,”said Sumi Nadarajan,Public Information Officer,KMRL.

A significant part of the credit for metro rails around the country is laid at the feet of one man, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, a 77-year-old technocrat popularly known as the ‘Metro Man of India’.So many good ideas in infrastructure never get built in the country due to political interference, corruption, delays, cost overruns and inefficiency. But metro broke the mould with a quietly brilliant, incorruptible and inspiring team leader as director. “He always insisted on developing expertise within the organization, rather than relying on consultants.Deadlines and budgets were not altered even in compelling circumstances. If anything went wrong, there was no hunt for scapegoats, only for solutions.The payrolls are often slim and the management structure is kept as simple as possible.Working with him was a great experience,” said Antony.

But as our urban communities grow, existing urban transport foundation is being insufficient. The circumstance is especially extreme in huge urban communities. Traffic congestion in the city’s roads and the lack of alternative mass transit systems has meant that the railway network bears responsibility of commutation in the rush hour traffic.

As per 2013 UN Territory report ,this growing need is a consequence of diverting development to outskirts of the cities. While it has helped reduce traffic congestion at the core, this has also resulted in very high dependence on motorized transport. The rich have reacted by expanding utilization of autos and taxis. The non-rich usually depend on public transport.

But in October, a fare hike came into effect which makes it difficult for the common man.For instance ,a man travelling from East Delhi to Gurgaon has to spend Rs.2400 now where he had to spend only Rs. 1,120 last month. “The necessity of revision in fares was on account of increase in the cost of inputs viz. the staff costs, the cost of energy and the cost of repair & maintenance.A daily wage labourer who will be earning Rs. 400 – Rs. 600 per day, commuting long distances for work, will now spend Rs. 120 just on metro rides. This will undeniably lead to workers and other low income groups shifting to cheaper public transport, such as buses, and consequently increase the pressure on roads. The motive of the construction of metro to reduce congestion on roads, and provide cleaner and more environment friendly means of transport is then defeated,”said an official of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Some critics of metro systems say that the project stood rough over environmental concerns and land-rights issue. Some others say that it has not incorporated completely with the city’s huge system of transports, which are less expensive and has more coverage.But as initiated by KMRL,metro systems around the country need to integrate with the rest of the public transport system.But this may require a complete overall of the ownership and governance structure of the public transport system by respective states.While researches show that the ideal modal share of public transport should be around 70%, however it is in tune to only 35%–40% in India’s metro cities.

A study published last month by the McKinsey Global Institute estimated that by 2030, 590 million Indians would live in cities and 70 percent of India’s new jobs would be in cities. India then needs $1.2 trillion in infrastructure to accommodate these new arrivals, including 4,600 miles of railways and subways.This confirms to what E Shreedharan said in an interview in August that a good, reliable transportation system is a must to make a city liveable and for its economic growth.

The Indian Governments is often blamed for holding back from decisions till it turns into a problem and urban transportation is one such crisis.India’s economic future depends on its cities. As long as urban infrastructure is awful, India will economically underperform. Government might lose money in the game of Metro rail but it is a very capital-intensive process as it requires everything from land acquisition to civil works, signalling, and rolling stock where Government becomes the only player who can win the game.Moreover the government’s motive must be to ensure affordable public transport.