Big plans unfolding for overhaul of urban transit systems

Urban infrastructure and railways will receive significant government investments in the coming years. An Indian Express report citing an estimate prepared by different ministries for the document titled ‘Infrastructure Vision @ India 2047’ points out that out of “the total Rs 835-870 lakh crore to be invested for infrastructure augmentation, nearly Rs 480-490 lakh crore would be for urban infrastructure and the second maximum investment of Rs 135-145 lakh crore for railways”.

The Vision document envisages: (i) 2-3 fold increase in speed of inter-city transport; (ii) Expanding Metro rail and mass transport system to 50,000 km in 75 cities; (iii) Building 32,000km of expressways and access-controlled highways; (iv) building 20 new airports on aerotropolis approach; (v) Developing 5 hyperloops.

The media report states that as per the plan people living in urban areas should have access to multimodal transit in less than 10 minute walk from home.

It may be surmised from the above that the integrated urban transit infrastructure development and introduction of vastly improved inter-city transport systems could pave the way for commensurate growth in transit media investment opportunities.