6. Guideway, Station & Track Plan
6.1 Guideway Plan
6.1.1 Design Concept
There are four basic types of LRT guideway i.e. elevated, embankment, surface and underground. These types were compared as follows by the relevant organizations.
(1) Surface
A surface LRT would only be useful to double the existing bus transport system without ensuring high speed operation or high efficiency of management. It would also reduce the existing street space and accelerate traffic congestion.
(2) Embankment
In addition to having the disadvantages of the surface LRT an embankment LRT is often subject to accidents.
(3) Underground
An underground LRT does not affect surface traffic as does an elevated LRT However construction cost is four or five times that of an elevated LRT and the construction period, during which traffic on the ground is disturbed, is long. When distances between stations are short, it takes about one year to construct each station. Along the entire route, piping and conduits for electricity water and other utilities would have to be rerouted. In addition, the soil properties of Bangalore do not suit a subway system.
(4) Elevated
An elevated LRT is flexible and offers an ideal system for the ever-developing city
of Bangalore. Therefore, an elevated LRT was selected as the basic guideway
structure.
There is a principle that guideway systems must not permit trespassing, except in an emergency. In the suburban Nagavara district, the Yellow line is planned to pass along a state-owned road now under construction. As this district is not highly populated, crossing traffic is limited because the one side of LRT guideway is a lake, and land usage is not restricted, the line will bc constructed on the ground surface. People tend to cross railway lines freely in India. A third rail system is dangerous, as contact with the third rail can be fatal. Because there is a lake on the entire northern side of the line, as mentioned above, such danger is not conceivable in this district.
The elevated guideway structure is the most important cost element in the LRT system.
