REVITALIZATION STRATEGIES FOR URBAN CIRCULAR RAILWAY

SYSTEM IN A METROPOLITAN CITY

CASE STUDY: KOLKATA

Ms. Sharmistha Roy

Dr. Sanjay Gupta
School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi

Research Symposium, Public Transport Planning

CIRCULAR RAILWAY 8TH URBAN MOBILITY INDIA 2015

STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION

> Research Context

> Profile of Kolkata City

> Circular Railway Profile

> Circular Railway Characteristics

> Potential Demand Assessment on Circular Railway

> Development of Alternate planning strategies

> Comparative Evaluation of Alternate Strategies

> Summing Up

> Recommendations and Areas of Further Research

RESEARCH CONTEXT
Urban Transport = Sustainable Public Transport
Roads Widening, building new expressways or expensive metro is not enough. Public transport needs to
achieve an increasing share of trips, for a city to remain economically viable
Congestion/
Tremendous Massive Poor Quality Overdependence
Vehicle pollution and
growth in travel of Public on Personalized
growth /year poor safety
Population demand transport modes
environment

Population growth Vehicle growth Modal share in India

Sustainable Solution???? Cities require a sustainable transport system

Rail Transit such as Metro or Commuter railway Commuter railway
Low Ridership ?
 Higher Carrying capacity  Poor Service
 High Service quality  Poor operational performance
 More comfortable and faster Kolkata Circular Railway is one such example of poor service with
 Environment friendly low ridership and has a potential fruitful role in meeting mobility
 Potential for sustainable mobility needs of the city
 Greater long run value
Research Need
Appropriate strategies need to be explored to revitalize Circular Railway operate with
full potential to meet city’s growing travel demand.
OBJECTIVES & RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Objectives:
 To appreciate the role and importance of Urban Railway system in city’s overall transport system and
to review best practices on Urban Rail Network planning;
 To assess network, abutting land use pattern, traffic and travel desire and feeder traffic along the
case study Circular Railway corridor of Kolkata;
 To study the existing operational characteristics and user’s characteristics of Circular railway and its
competing modes to identify constraint for the low patronage on the circular railway;
 To develop a mode choice model for carrying its evaluation;
 To evolve alternate strategies for assessing the ridership potential on Circular railway;
 To recommend planning strategies for revitalization of Circular Railway.
Methodology:
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6

Evolve and
Identification Potential
Primary survey Evaluate
Review of of Existing demand
data collection Data analysis alternate
Best Practices status of assessment on
& & strategies
and Urban C_railway in C_railway
Secondary Identification of &
railway system terms of &
survey data issues Recommend
physical strategies
collection appropriate
characteristics development
strategies
REVIEW OF URBAN RAIL NETWORK
Urban Railway Route Length (km) Urban Railway Daily Ridership (million)
8 7.58
700 640 6.8
Railway Route Length (km)

Daily Ridership (million)

600 5.76
6
500 425 428
5
400
4
300
3
200
2
100
1
0 0
New York Singapore Sanghai Mumbai Bangalore Kolkata Chennai Delhi Ring New York Singapore Sanghai Mumbai Bangalore Kolkata Chennai
railway
Cities name Cities
 In developed counrtiers, New York, Singapore and Shanghai rail network – MRT system / Metro
 In Indian cities, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai rail network – Suburban Commuter rail network
Shanghai: Mumbai:
Shanghai Rail Mumbai suburban Rail
Route Length 425 km Route Length 428 km
Daily Ridership 5.76 million Daily Ridership 7.58 million
No. of Daily services 2342 nos.
Shanghai features the Headway 5-7 Min
longest metro network Train frequency 8-10Train/hr
in Asia at 425km.
Mumbai Suburban Railway is one of the busiest
The plan is to develop a system comprising 22 commuter rail systems in the world. Four
lines and 877km of rail by 2020. Currently, 42% different corridors are- Western, central,
of the population in Central Shanghai is served Harbour line and Trans-Harbour
by a metro station within a 600m radius. Source: Western Railway of India, Transport Policies and
Patterns: A Comparison of Five Asian Cities
DATA BASE

Sample Collection:
On Board Survey (train) = 273 2.1% sample collected
Off Board survey (stations) = 482 during the survey.
Total sample collected from train = 755
Secondary Data Collection:
Station wise boarding passengers
Passenger O/D survey:
Circular railway physical characteristics
Bus: 25 samples
Other public transport details- route, fare,
Metro: 30 samples
and other characteristics
Tram: 15 samples
KOLKATA CITY PROFILE
Kolkata, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the
east bank of the Hooghly river, it is the principal commercial, cultural,
and educational centre of East India.
Kolkata Demographic Profile
Area 1886.67 km2
Population 1,41,12,536
Work force partcipation rate (census 2001) 34.50%
kolkata's literacy rate 87.14%
Transport system Characteristics:
Road Network: 5 National Highways (NH- 2,6,34,35,117), Regional road
length 107km, Arterial road length 242 km

Only 6%
passenger
movements
(Circular Railway)
CIRCULAR RAILWAY PROFILE
The Kolkata Terminal Committee 1947 recommended construction of railway network for
kolkata from Dum Dum to Majerhat and back to Dum Dum- a circular loop. It was named
as “Circular Railway”
1 – Dum Dum stn. Circular Railway:
2 – Patipukur stn. 1
3 – Kolkata stn.  Kolkata Circular railway is a railway line that encircles
4 – Tala stn. the entire city of Kolkata.
4
5 – Bag Bazar stn.
5
 This 24.58km circular system passes through the
6 – Sova Bazar stn. 2 heart of the city or CBD carrying 36,000 passengers
7 – Burra Bazar stn. 6 3
daily destined for the CBD.
8 – BBD Bag stn.
9 – Eden Garden stn. 7  Circular Railway route is single line connection
10 – Princep Ghat stn.
between Dum Dum and Majerhat station but in
11 – Khidirpur stn. 8 platform area it becomes double.
12 – Remount rd stn. Year 2013 2014 2015-Februray
13 – Majerhat stn.
9 Daily Boarding Pasengers 33046 33720 36156
C_Railway stations
10
No. of stations 13
Dum Dum Jn., Kolkata
11 Major stations
Stn., Majerhat Jn.
Dum Dum Jn.- North
Suburban
12 Suburban Majerhat
Connectivity
Jn. -South Suburban
C_Railway Characteristics
13
No. of stations 13
Inner station distance(km) 1.2
Total Trains/day 32 nos.
Per disrection trains 16 nos.
CIRCULAR RAILWAY SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS
Station

 Circular Railway route is single line connection between Dum Dum and Majerhat station but in platform
area it becomes double.
Circular Railway Train Formation

 Basic unit is 3 coach units with one motor coach, one MC- Motor Coach DC- Driving Coach TC- Trailer Coach
trailer coach and one driving coach- 9 car commuter 9-car Train DC+MC+TC+TC+MC+TC+TC+MC+DC
Passenger carrying capacity of 9 car train
train. with standing @6 per sqm
2382 nos. passenger

Circular Railway Train Operation

Existing 8 Hrs. Operation
EMU train
Train Type
(Commuter rail)
(08:00-12:00) - Daily Passeneger 36156
Operation time Avg. trip length 15 km
(15:00-19:00)  It is observed that the
No. of Coach 9 coaches No. of Trains/day 32-33 nos.
Per direction train 16 nos. trains are operated
Avg. train speed 20-22 kmph
Roundtrips 16 only 4 hours in
Dwell time 30 sec
Headway (Peak hour) 20-30 min
Avg. running route length/day 16.79 km morning peak hour
Headway(Non peak hour) 50-55 min
total train km/day 537 and 4 hours in evening
total seat km/day 1279801 peak hour.
Frequency (Peak hour) 2
Passenger km/day 542340
Train capacity 2382
Peak hour load factor 0.71
Route capacity/hour/direction 4764
Circular Railway Train Operation Inferences:
 Existing operation running in loss, passenger fare is lower
Average cost / passenger km Rs.0.44/km than average cost per passenger.
Average fare / km Rs.0.33/km
 Low frequency and long waiting time
CIRCULAR RAILWAY LAND CHARACTERISTICS

 Major land uses-

Dum Dum stn. residential,
Tala stn.
commercial and
Bag Bazar stn.
mixed land use.
Patipukur stn.
Sova Bazar stn. Government offices
Kolkata stn.
Burra Bazar stn. and railway area are
also a major part of
BBD Bag stn. the surrounding land
Eden Garden stn.
use.
CBD Population Density
Princep Ghat stn. Station Name
The maximum (catchment are) (pph)
concentration of Kolkata stn. 256458 363
Khidirpur stn. commercial (including BBD Bag 300527 425
Dum Dum Jn. 273125 410
Remount rd stn.
administrative and
Patipukur 81728 116
Majerhat stn.
office) areas is in Burra Burra Bazar 298746 423
Bazar, BBD Bagh, and Eden Gradens 94441 134
Esplanade areas which Sova Bazar 220894 364
form the Central Bag Bazar 225433 371
Inferences: Business District (CBD). Remount Road 79080 112
Tala station 203897 288
 Major land use residential and commercial
Khidirpur 103108 146
 One side of the railway corridor is blocked by Hooghly River Princep Ghat 120817 171
 high ridership station’s catchments area density is high and land Majerhat station 219845 311
value is also very high rather than other station’s catchments area.
CIRCULAR RAILWAY CONNECTIVITY CHARACTERISTICS
Bus
Average no. of Bus
all stations have
stops (within 1.5km 5-6 nos.
access to bus stops
catchment area)
within catchment
Frequency (min) 7-10 min
area
0-3km - Rs. 6, 3-
Fare
6km - Rs. 7
Metro
Average no. of stations southern part of
(within 1.5km 1-2 nos. the C_railway
catchment area) stations don't have
Frequency (min) 3-5 min access to metro
0-5km - Rs. 5, 5- station
Fare
10km - Rs. 10
Tram
Average no. of stops Most of the stations
(within 1.5km 6-7 nos. have tram stops
catchment area) within catchemnt
Frequency (min) 25-30 min area
Fare Rs.4 - Rs.7
Ferry
Average no. of stops
Most of the stations
(within 1.5km 1-2 nos.
don't have ferry
catchment area)
connectivity
Frequency (min) 15-20 min
Fare Rs.7 - Rs.10
Inferences:
 Lack of proper transport supply at each stations
 No provision of para transit at the stations.
CIRCULAR RAILWAY PASSENGER CHARACTERISTICS
Passenger Typology: Access-Dispersal Mode:

 84% passengers are suburban passengers.

 32% passengers disperse within 1 km by walk and
average passenger’s trip length is within 1.5km.
 Maximum 65% passengers take 10 mins to access and
disperse from/to station. 40% line haul passengers take
50 mins times to travel.

Rail passenger- both side walk- only dependent on Circular

railway.

Station Category
A type 2000-20000
B type 1000-2000
C type 100-1000
Based on Ridership
Inferences:
 More than 30% passengers are dependent on C_railway
 Most of the passengers are suburban passengers
CIRCULAR RAILWAY PASSENGER CHARACTERISTICS
% of
Avg. Dispersal Avg. line haul Avg. % of
Classificat Avg. Trip Waiting Walk Dispersal
Station Name Trip length trip length Dispersal Dispersal to
ions length(km) time(min) Share (%) to Total
(km) (km) time (min) Line haul
trip length
kolkata Stn. 1.46 16.63 18.09 7.5 12.5 85% 8.8% 8.1%
A BBD Bag 0.67 29.93 30.6 5.8 12 79% 2.2% 2.2%
Dum Dum jn. 0.96 10.22 11.18 8.7 15.3 64% 9.4% 8.6%
Patipukur 1.02 19.15 20.17 9.5 13.8 54% 5.3% 5.1%
B Burra Bazar 0.68 23.17 23.85 8 12.3 99% 2.9% 2.9%
Eden Gradens 1.39 26.27 27.66 9.4 12.1 17% 5.3% 5.0%
Sova Bazar 0.81 24.23 25.04 8.3 14.4 88% 3.3% 3.2%
Bag Bazar 1.07 14.07 15.14 7.9 15 38% 7.6% 7.1%
Remount Road 1.43 8.27 9.7 9.6 15 1% 17.3% 14.7%
C Tala station 0.72 17.16 17.88 7.8 14.8 90% 4.2% 4.0%
Khidirpur 1.5 14.02 15.52 9.7 13.4 1% 10.7% 9.7%
Princep Ghat 1.11 24.86 25.97 6.6 15 55% 4.5% 4.3%
Majerhat station 1.68 14.44 16.12 10.4 15 5% 11.6% 10.4%
 Avg. length of dispersal trip is Access-Dispersal Mode:
about 5.5% of the avg. main
line haul trip length and 4% of
total trip length
 Maximum 60% of C_railway passengers are
considered walk as predominant mode of
5.5% access dispersal.
4%
Inferences: 60 %
 Walk is the predominant mode of transport
 Avg. dispersal trip length is only 4% of the total trip length
DEMAND ASSESSMENT ON CIRCULAR RAILWAY
 A utility based mode choice model was developed taking into account the travel time, travel costs
and level of service attributes of the competing alternative travelling modes
 To assess the existing travel behaviour of the passengers and also the potential shift which may
result owing to improvements in service levels and operating environment of circular rail

UTILITY MODEL 1: Shift from Metro to Circular Railway

 Parameters: Line haul Time, Line haul Cost, Waiting Time, Access/Dispersal time, Access/Dispersal
Cost. 80% samples are used for the equation and 20% samples are used for validation the equation

UTILITY MODEL 2: Shift from Other competing modes to Circular Railway

 Parameters: Travel cost, travel time, Waiting Time, 80% samples are used for the equation and 20%
samples are used for validation the equation
DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATE STRATEGIES
 The present system is underutilized has a potential to meet city’s growing travel demand. A number
of strategies need to be explored to revitalize C_railway and for assessing the ridership potential on
C_railway.
Strategy Base Development: Business As Usual
In BAU the passenger demand hasn’t
been restricted by any assumptions or
Improvement in station Connectivity conditions and the growth is calculated 1
by Transit system based on the present trend
A portion of metro line users were
assumed to be travelling by C_railway by
2 improving in station connectivity by transit
Improvement in Service frequency
system
and Fare level of C_railway
Passenger shift towards C_railway was
Improvement in potential ridership found by improving service frequency 3
by re-densification in catchment and fare level of Circular railway
area
Passenger shift towards C_railway was
4 found by re densification in catchment
area Completion of Entire Circular
Network (Loop)
More number of passenger shift towards
C_railway was found by completion of
5
Strategy Impact: entire circular loop

 System Performance
 User satisfaction
 Environmental impact
APPLICATION OF MODEL IN ALTERNATE STRATEGY DEMAND ASSESSMENT
DEMAND
STRATEGIES CONCEPT INPUTS 2020 2025
Passenger growth rate Daily boarding passengers
1 Business As Usual based on the present – secondary data (growth 0.43 lakh 0.50 lakh
usual trend rate factor – 1.03)

Improvement in station Utility Model 1 +

2 50% reduction in waiting
C_railway waiting time +
Connectivity by Transit time and 10% reduction 0.47 lakh 0.54 lakh
system C_railway A_D time+
in access-dispersal time
annual Metro passengers

Improvement in Service 50% reduction in waiting Utility Model 2 + C_railway

3 time and 50% increase in waiting time + C_railway 0.72 lakh
frequency and Fare level 0.9 lakh
of C_railway C_railway passenger fare fare + annual passengers of
other modes

4 Improvement in Strategy 3 ridership +

potential ridership by re- Densification based on additional passenger after
densification in available un-developed re-densification based on 1.12 lakh 1.30 lakh
catchment area area employment and household
size (40,000 pass)

Strategy 3 ridership +
5 Completion of Entire
estimated passenger from
Circular Network (Loop) Circular Loop 0.93 lakh 1.11 lakh
new catchment area based
on the density and
regression equation
(21,000 pass)
STRATEGY 1: BUSINESS AS USUAL STRATEGY
 In this strategy the C_Railway passenger’s growth hasn’t been altered by any assumptions or by any
other factors.
 The growth is calculated based on the present usual trend, same headway, frequency, operating
time and numbers of trains were considered to evaluate system performance.

Circular railway Passengers

2020 2025
43,172 50,048
Parameters System Performance
Year 2020 2025
Ridership (Daily Boarding) 43,172 50,048
Headway 30 min
Frequency 2
No. of Trains/day 32 nos. (16 train/direction)
Peak hour Load factor 0.85 0.99
Passenger km/day 6,47,580 7,50,720
Average cost / Passenger km Rs. 0.36 Rs. 0.32
Average fare/ km Rs. 0.33 Rs. 0.33
Loss/profit in cost/pass km -0.03 0.01
User Satisfaction
Year Load factor % increase Load Condition Comfort level
Inferences: Existing 0.71 Within Safe load High
 Load factor will increase more than 20% in 2020 0.85 19.7% Within Safe load High
horizon years. 2025 0.99 39.4% Crush Load Moderate
 system will operate in loss
STRATEGY 2: STATION CONNECTIVITY IMPROVEMENT
 In this strategy the outcomes of C_Railway and Metro railway passenger’s surveys were used to
calculate the passenger shift from Metro to C_Railway.
 A particular section of the Metro line is considered here from Dum Dum station to Esplanade
station and the Metro users were interviewed based on various attributes and with respect to that
the conclusions were made.
Circular railway Passengers
Utility Model 1+ Concept 2 = Pass 2020 2025
demand 47,300 54,500
Parameters System Performance
Year 2020 2025
Ridership (Daily Boarding) 47,300 54,500
Headway 15 min
Frequency 4
No. of Trains/day 64 nos. (32 train/direction)
Peak hour Load factor 0.52 0.6
Passenger km/day 7,09,500 8,17,500
Average cost / Passenger km Rs. 0.66 Rs. 0.58
Average fare/ km Rs. 0.33 Rs. 0.33
Loss/profit in cost/pass km -0.33 -0.25
User Satisfaction
Year Load factor % increase Load Condition Comfort level
Existing 0.71 Within Safe load High
2020 0.52 -26.8% Within Safe load High
2025 0.6 -15.5% Safe Load High
Inference:
 Shift from Metro to C_Raiway is found very less.
 System will run in loss because metro is more preferable than commuter rail.
STRATEGY 3: SERVICE FREQUENCY AND FARE LEVEL IMPROVEMENT
 Bus, Metro and Tram are considered as other modes and users were interviewed based on various
attributes and with respect to that the conclusions were made.
 it is found that 14.5% of Metro users, 15% Bus users and 19.5% tram users will be shifted to
C_Railway.
 Fare and waiting time- the two most important factors are considered in this strategy.

Circular railway Passengers

Utility Model 2+ Concept 3 = Pass demand 2020 2025
(Shift from Bus, Metro and Tram) 72,000 90,000

Parameters System Performance

Year 2020 2025
Ridership (Daily Boarding) 72,000 90,000
Headway 15 min
Frequency 4
No. of Trains/day 64 nos. (32 train/direction)
Peak hour Load factor 0.79 0.98
Environmental impact: Passenger km/day 10,80,000 13,50,000
 In 2025, 17% emission Average cost / Passenger km Rs. 0.24 Rs. 0.35
Average fare/ km Rs. 0.50 Rs. 0.50
is reduced for shifting
Loss/profit in cost/pass km 0.26 0.15
from Bus to C_railway.
User Satisfaction
Year Load factor % increase Load Condition Comfort level
Existing 0.71 Within Safe load High
2020 0.79 11.3% Within Safe load High
2025 0.98 38.0% Crush load Moderate
Inference:
 After increased in fare structure, it is found that passengers are willing to shift
from other modes to Circular Railway.
 STRATEGY 4: RE-DENSIFICATION
 In this strategy, three zones are demarked based on the existing density of the catchment area and
land use of the areas.
 Three zones are 400m, 800m, and 1.5km radius catchment area.
 The outcomes of three zones’ density, FAR, building heights, built up areas were used to find out
the re-development opportunities along the C_Railway corridor.

Circular railway Passengers

2020 2025
1,12,000 1,30,000
Strategy 3+ Parameters System Performance
Year 2020 2025
Concept 4
Ridership (Daily Boarding) 1,12,000 1,30,000
= Pass demand Headway 15 min
Frequency 4
No. of Trains/day 64 nos. (32 train/direction)
Peak hour Load factor 0.92 1.07
Passenger km/day 16,80,000 19,50,000
Average cost / Passenger km Rs. 0.35 Rs. 0.31
Average fare/ km Rs. 0.50 Rs. 0.50
Loss/profit in cost/pass km 0.15 0.19
User Satisfaction
Inference: Year Load factor % increase Load Condition Comfort level
 Based on those three zones, additional population Existing 0.71 Within Safe load High
and employment were calculated and combine 2020 0.92 29.6% Crush load Moderate
with strategy 3. 2025 1.07 50.7% Super crush load Low

 Additional 40000 passengers will be increased

after re-densification along the circular railway
STRATEGY 5: COMPLETION OF CIRCULAR LOOP
 In this strategy, other stations and railway sections are found out to complete the loop.
 Assume same trip length for those selected stations and find out population and density within
1.5km to calculate ridership using Regression analysis.
 Consider railway section and examine frequency and headway with suburban railway services.

Stratgy 3 + concept 5= Pass Circular railway Passengers

demand 2020 2025
Estimated passenger = 21100 93,000 1,11,000
Parameters System Performance
Year 2020 2025
Ridership (Daily Boarding) 93,000 1,11,000
Headway 12 min
Frequency 5
No. of Trains/day 80 nos. (40 train/direction)
Peak hour Load factor 0.76 0.91
Passenger km/day 16,80,000 19,50,000
Average cost / Passenger km Rs. 0.42 Rs. 0.36
Average fare/ km Rs. 0.50 Rs. 0.50
Loss/profit in cost/pass km 0.08 0.14
User Satisfaction
Year Load factor % increase Load Condition Comfort level
Inference: Existing 0.71 Within Safe load High
 This loop will provide a link for suburban 2020 0.76 7.0% Within Safe load High
2025 0.91 28.2% Crush load Moderate
passengers to the central areas of the city. The
loop connects more origin and destination points.
 COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF ALTERNATE STRATEGIES
2020 2025
5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 5
12 min, 5 12 min, 5 15 min, 4 15 min, 4 30 min,2 30 min,2 15 min, 4 15 min, 4 12 min, 5 12 min, 5
Headway &
Headway &
Frequency 60% 60% 50% 50% 50% 50% 60% 60% Frequency

6 min 6 min 7.5 min 7.5 min 15 min 15 min 7.5 min 7.5 min 6 min 6 min
Waiting Time
Waiting Time
60% 60% 50% 50% 50% 50% 60% 60%

Peak Hour 0.76 0.92 0.79 0.52 0.85 0.99 0.60 0.98 1.07 0.91 Peak Hour
Load factor 7% 30% 11% 27% 20% 39% 16% 38% 51% 28% Load factor

Average cost Rs. 0.42 Rs. 0.35 Rs. 0.24 Rs. 0.66 Rs. 0.32 Rs. 0.32 Rs. 0.58 Rs. 0.35 Rs. 0.31 Rs. 0.36 Average cost
per pass. km 5% 20% 45% 50% 18% 27% 16% 20% 26% 18% per pass. km

Rs. 0.33 Rs. 0.33 Rs. 0.50 Rs. 0.50 Rs. 0.53 Average pass.
Average pass. Rs. 0.53 Rs. 0.50 Rs. 0.50 Rs. 0.33 Rs. 0.33
fare/km 61% 52% 52% 52% 52% 61% fare/km

Loss/ Profit in Rs. 0.08 Rs. 0.15 Rs. 0.26 Rs. 0.33 Rs. 0.03 Rs. 0.01 Rs. 0.25 Rs. 0.15 Rs. 0.19 Rs. 0.14 Loss/ Profit in
Cost/passenger
km + + + - - + - + + + Cost/passenger
km

Existing:
Headway – 30 min Strategy 3 (system Strategy 5 (Completion of Increase + Profit
improvements -frequency,
Frequency – 2
Waiting time – 15 min fare policy) is identified as
entire circular) is identified
as long term improvement
Decrease - Loss
Peak hour load factor – 0.71 short term improvement strategy.
Avg. cost/pass km – Rs. 0.44 strategy.
Avg. pass fare/km – Rs. 0.33
SUMMING UP
Findings:
 The present study highlights the impending need to evolve or revitalize for Circular Railway in city
of Kolkata because Circular railway is an asset of Kolkata.

 In the absence of proper system performance, integration with other modes of transport, it is
observed that the circular Railway has potential fruitful role in meeting mobility needs of the city.

 the system is confronted with problems such as low frequency, long waiting time for commuters
and poor inter modal linkages .

 In future it is estimated that about 15-16% passenger shift from other modes to Circular railway
and 50% reduction in Headway time, 15-20% increase in load factor, which supports increased
patronage on these systems.
 The study also has demonstrated the application of various strategies such as system
improvement, connectivity and fare structure improvement in order to revitalize the present
Circular railway system.
Recommendation:
 Amongst all the alternate strategies it is concluded that strategy 3 of system improvements
(frequency, fare policy) would result in maximum shifting from other modes to Circular railway and
minimum waiting time and better system performance. So this is identified as short term
improvement strategy.

 In addition the study also identified long term improvement strategy as strategy 5- completion of
entire Circular railway loop. It is more beneficial than other strategies.
 Dual Track Proposal

Station Improvement

The present research is confined only how to revitalize or evolve Circular Railway in
city of Kolkata. Further study will be micro level studies for different stations and
it’s catchment area to evaluate the provision of dual track proposal of full network.

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