Riding on BRTS success, govt plans light rail transit for Hubballi-Dharwad

If all goes well, the Hubballi-Dharwad twin cities will be the first city in the country to get a Light Rail Transit (LRT), in addition to the existing Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS).

To cater to the increasing population of the twin cities, the government has been promoting the public transit system, so as to take off the pressure of private vehicles from the roads.

Dharwad district in-charge Minister Santosh Lad told DH that initial planning was on for LRT.

The proposal will be ready in another four weeks. There is a plan to take up this project under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. If everything goes as planned, the project will be implemented in one and a half years.

“This is in initial stages and I am not against the BRTS project. The BRTS will not be stopped when LRT is implemented. In the next 10 years, Hubballi-Dharwad will get a huge scope and it is the next option for people and industries after Bengaluru. Therefore, we have to think to develop the twin cities keeping next 10-20 years in mind and plan according to that,” he said.

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The LRT needs a small ramp for the rail movement. There is a space in the existing BRTS dedicated corridor, which can be used for the LRT. After the feasibility study, the government will take up the project on the PPP model and it will be the added system, Lad added.

Before the implementation of the BRTS project here, the people of Hubballi-Dharwad and many organisations, a decade ago, demanded a Metro or Monorail project. Due to less population, the agencies reported to the government that Metro or Mono rail project here would not be feasible and it will be a huge investment here. Therefore, the government took up BRTS project and implemented here which is running successfully.

People of the twin cities have welcomed the plans of the minister, and they also said the twin cities are vastly developing and there is a need to promote public transportation.