In India Metro Railways is gaining ground what with number of cities going in for Metro rail. viz. Delhi Metro Railways Corporation ( DMRC) going in full swing and expanding their network till Gurgaon , Faridabad etc. Though Kolkata Metro Rail was started long back but it has not expanded much further.Now Bangalore Metro Rail first phase work is in progress and its first stretch called  from Baiyyappanahalli to M.G.Road was commissioned in October 2011 which is about 7 kms. The first phase is expected to be completed by 2014 or 2015 which has 7 underground stations and rest are elevated.Phase 2 of Bangalore Metro is sanctioned and we will see further expansion in the next 10 years.

Metro Rail In Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Jaipur , Ahmedabad are also coming up. Kochi is in the initial stages and survey for Lucknow has also taken place.

 It may be argued whether Metro Rail is required with the huge cost of infrastructure put into it and disturbing the normal public life for years during the work is in progress. It also results in lot of acquisitions of land for construction, demolition of buildings, cutting of trees and destroying the ecology, litigations with the common man etc. But in the long run this will be beneficial to mankind, since what with the huge volume of traffic on the roads, accidents etc, with practically no space to walk, no fresh air to breathe the option of Metro rail is welcome indeed. Road rage also adds to the difficulty of the common pedestrian with 2 wheelers running on footpaths and no value for life. Metro rail will provide a tension/stress free, pollution free  comfortable journey  in air conditioned comfort to your work place and travelling and making friends with people, reaching in quick time without those stop signals and traffic jams etc.

There is another technical issue which is debatable. The Indian Railways  has adopted the 25 kV A.C.,                50 c/s overhead system of Electrification which technology was followed by SNCF, France and number of countries. In some places in Mumbai , earlier in Kolkata & chennai, DC traction was prevalent. Now the Indian Railways has completely switched over to 25 kV A.C. , mostly broad gauge ( 1676 mm- a legacy of the British).

However in Metro Railway both A.C and DC systems of Traction are being used now. DMRC is using the Indian Railways 25 kV A.C system whereas Bangalore Metro Rail is using DC 3rd rail traction system alongwith Kolkata & Hyderabad Metro. Chennai is using Overhead system. Though this is debatable. 3rd  rail does not require overhead wires and electrical clearances required for overhead wires have to be kept in mind while electrifying , especially in underground tunnels. Whereas the biggest problem with 3rd rail is Stray current.Otherwise it is very comfortable easy to maintain etc. What is stray current. Normally the return current from the Rolling stock is supposed to return through the running rails completely. But it is not the case. In D.C. system the return current does not follow the intended path unless it is forced too by providing in clamping of the rails using rubber pads etc.Normally current tries to take the least resistant path and hence the track plinths on which the rail rests has to provide high resistance compared to the rails to force the return current though the rails. This requires good insulation of the track plinth & rubber pads of fish plate joints.
The stray current can corrode utilities underground if allowed to take the unintended path.

Another issue which is debatable is whether one should go for broad gauge or standard gauge. Going for standard gauge helps as rolling stock over the world are manufactured for standard gauges, though the lesser gauge width reduces the width of the train and carrying capacity of passengers. Broad gauge is better in this context. Each one may have their own views. I have published my views and initiated a small discussion. This is my first blog. I do not know whether I may good at it but it is worth a try.