Delhi Metro helped save 33,000 tonnes of fuel

New Delhi, June 04: The Delhi Metro helped save 33,000 tonnes of fuel and prevented the creation of over 2,275 tonnes of poisonous gases in the national capital, a new report has said. The completion of Phase I of Delhi Metro, covering 65 km, resulted in a reduction in road accidents, helped improve road traffic and travel conditions and made a substantial impact on the environmental well-being of the capital, the report by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) said. "As a result of less use of road vehicles with the coming of the metro, 57,858 tonnes of petrol, diesel and CNG would be saved by the end of year 2007. Over 33,000 tonnes of this have already been saved between 2002 and 2006," it said. "Since the metro began operations in December 2002, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has already taken 22,697 vehicles load onto its system which is likely to increase to about 40,000 by the end of year 2007." As a result, 16.6 lakh vehicle kilometres would be saved and Rs 218 cr would be saved on maintenance of vehicles by the end of 2007, apart from fuel savings of Rs 172 cr, it said. The report, commissioned by DMRC as part of the first ever study of the impact of its operations, also stated that "Delhites would have a saving of Rs 129 cr by the end of 2007 owing to the Metro". Apart from monetary and environmental benefits, the report suggests the metro has made a substantial improvement in travel conditions and earning capacity per person in the capital. "A person saves around 66 minutes every day by traveling in the Metro, which translates to the additional earning capacity of Rs 725 cr by 2007-end," it said. In addition, passengers traveling on the Delhi Metro save on human energy consumed due to the smooth and comfortable journey, and this has resulted in saving of 40.19 tera joules of energy by 2007. In terms of the human lives saved in road accidents, the report said, "Delhi Metro has helped in already saving 280 lives upto 2006 which would have lost if they had travelled on other modes of transport." The report also concluded that the metro would lead to total savings of around Rs 2,072 cr for the people of Delhi by the end of 2007. "These benefits are a result of passenger time saved, fuel cost saved, reduction in capital and operating cost of vehicles, reduction in environmental damage, accidents and time saved etc," DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal told agencies. "In fact, in terms of the total saving for Delhites, the CRRI report says that the total capital investment on phase i of Delhi Metro will be recovered by 2013," he added.