MÉTRO LÉGER : nouveau réalignement aérien
Mandat en quatre volets en 2012 pour les consultants de Singapour, soit des études pour le trajet revu et corrigé, de faisabilité, du design et du lancement de l’expression of interest
Le trajet du métro léger, envisagé entre Curepipe et Port-Louis dans une tentative d’apporter des solutions aux problèmes de congestion routière, pourrait être différent de celui envisagé jusqu’ici, soit le Old Railway Track. Ce réalignement du tracé pourrait également déboucher sur un métro léger aérien, notamment construit sur pilotis, sur certains tronçons. C’est ce qu’a appris Week-End de sources autorisées à la veille de l’arrivée des consultants de Singapour pour la reprise des discussions avec les autorités mauriciennes. Par ailleurs, le projet d’introduction du péage sur des routes fait face à de la résistance dans certains milieux, même si les Toll Roads ont déjà été identifiées par le ministère de l’Infrastructure publique.
L’une des principales difficultés à surmonter dans l’élaboration du projet de métro léger demeure le tracé. Les échanges préliminaires entre les experts de la Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) de Singapour et le Prime Minister’s Office ont permis de dégager le consensus que le tracé entre Curepipe et Port-Louis devra être réaligné et cela pour plusieurs raisons, notamment au niveau des régions à desservir ou encore d’organisation spatiale.
"Il est vrai que le projet de métro léger est in the pipeline depuis au moins 20 ans. Mais s’est-on rendu compte que le Old Railway Track entre Curepipe et Port-Louis comporte de lourds handicaps. Ce tracé était axé sur un single lane seulement et que le métro léger ne pourra opérer que sur une seule voie. Il faudra acquérir du terrain tout au long du tracé pour viabiliser la circulation sur deux voies", souligne-t-on dans les milieux concernés.
Ensuite, le tracé du Old Railway Track avait obéi à des considérations économiques et développements urbains complètement différents de l’urbanisation que connaît le pays aujourd’hui. À titre d’exemple, après Beau-Bassin en direction de Port-Louis, la ligne ferroviaire fonçait sur Petite-Rivière. Aujourd’hui, l’adoption de ce tracé passera à côté des développements survenus dans des agglomérations au centre de l’île.
Dans cette perspective, il a été décidé que les experts de Singapour, qui sont attendus à Maurice vers la fin de cette année, se sont vu confier la responsabilité de proposer un tracé revu et corrigé entre Curepipe et Port-Louis. Compte tenu des contraintes spatiales, la possibilité que le métro léger soit aérien, ou encore construits sur pilotis à certains endroits, n’est pas à écarter. À ce stade, en attendant les propositions des Singapouriens, les options restent ouvertes.
Au début de l’année prochaine, l’expertise de la Mass Rapid Transit de Singapour sera également sollicitée pour d’autres volets de ce projet, soit l’étude de faisabilité de l’ensemble du projet, le Design Engineering et la préparation des documents et la supervision pour l’expression of interest pour le métro léger. Le calendrier de travail préliminaire établi indique que cette expression of interest sur la base de Public Private Partnership (PPP) pourrait être lancée au plus tôt vers la fin de l’année prochaine.
Par ailleurs, le consensus et l’unanimité se font toujours attendre pour le projet d’introduction du péage sur les principales routes mauriciennes. "Akoz Rs 50, pou gagn Rs 100 l’emmerdement", affirment ceux qui sont réticents à des changements dans les habitudes des conducteurs mauriciennes. Face à ces réfractaires, l’autre camp cite le cas du Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport où le péage fonctionne comme sur des roulettes.
Néanmoins, cette dernière poche de résistance au péage n’a pas pour autant empêché le ministère de l’Infrastructure publique d’aller de l’avant avec les procédures préliminaires. Les six Toll Roads identifiées sont :
la Ring Road ceinturant la capitale ;
la Dream Bridge enjambant le port ;
l’autoroute de Phœnix à Port-Louis ;
l’autoroute entre Terre-Rouge et Port-Louis ;
la nouvelle route Terre-Rouge — Verdun — Ebène et ;
l’extension de cette route à Phœnix.
En cas de mise à exécution de ce projet, les guichets de péage devront être installés à Saint-Jean, Terre-Rouge, Mer Rouge, Caudan, Quai D, Sorèze, Verdun et Phœnix. Un des derniers rapports du Fonds monétaire international sur le problème de congestion routière a recommandé que le péage soit fixé à Rs 20 par kilomètre parcouru dans la toll belt, balisée par Phœnix au Sud, Terre-Rouge au Nord, Verdun à l’Est et le Harbour Bridge à l’Ouest. Pour l’instant à l’hôtel du gouvernement, la consigne semble "we’ll cross the bridge when we’ll reach it".
Comments
i think the idea of having lrt is great but who will pay for it.taxpayers will dig their pocket to satisfy the government and also it is all politcs.
JUST POLITICS.lrt is just political game to gain election
You have got to be kidding me. Twenty years and a dozen feasibility studies later, they suddenly realize that the current routing plan is inadequate?! Pfffff. The question is: Who will pocket the millions that will surely flow in yet another feasibility study for the new route, the planning, etc?
When we are talking of such mode of transport, the best system we can think of would have to be like the one in the Philippines. Manila is an overcrowded metro yet the design of the rail system is overhead and more surprising is the fact that it is one of the most disciplined in the world. People do not crush each other in peak times and it is very punctual and efficient. That would be the model to adapt in Mauritius.
I agree with Vedymin comments. I wonder why Bombardier and Alstom have not has the opportunity to tender or make their proposals concernig this project. Why Singapore has a monopole on this project ?
I fully agree that an aerial system would be best since roads are congested .
Mainteanace should not be aproblem. The whole question is the maintenance budget. There are enough qualified mauritians able to maintain such equipment.
Toll on the motorway must have automatic system otherwise there will be queue at the tolling cabins.
u r talking bombadier company located in canada.if they send their tender it won`t be cheap.it will cost 2 to 3 time more.go and find out before saying things.may be indian company can send tender .
Oi! Samboo don't brag yourself too much, especially it turns out Singapore's LRT has always been operated by Bombardier. Only very recently have Mitsubishi rolling stocks been taken up. This is a discussion board and it happens we do sometimes make mistakes.
I'm no expert in mass transit systems, I can only speak by experience in Europe. Also it's been a while I haven't been in Mtius and Singapore. Well my guess is that the key in understanding such problematics lies in the whole network of High speed trains, Light rails, tramways, trolley cars and buses that serve a region. Singapore LRT works in conjunction with MRT this is why they can get along with those tiny LRT cars - you would need a continuous set of these at peak hours in Mtius and the construction & maintenance is pretty heavy duty stuffs. It’s gonna be hard given the conjuncture. The main advantage Mtius would get is to cut down oil expenditures as well as Carbon emissions besides much time being saved while commuting and hence enhanced productivity. I understood Singapore gvt proposed to help Mtius to smooth public transport following diplomatic visits but I'm 100% sure neither Bombardier nor Alstom have received bid intentions while they helped medium economy countries in Maghreb & South America set their own top notch rail transit. It would be great if someone could shed some light on the SG LRT passenger capacity as well as the call for tender.
I think the transport problem is everywhere in the world. It is also in Mauritius and everywhere is congested these days. We can all see that population together with general development is growing at a really fast pace but the public infrastructures aren't growing proportionally. Metro Léger has been in our plans for ages but ht eproject seems to get scrapped everynow and then.
Another point raised also is the need to decentralize from Port Louis and relocate elsewhere. Some businesses & ministries can easily operate away from port louis reducing traffic and hence less movements in Port Louis.
Things like Driving Licence Test centres should be available in other regions.
The toll roads are a must & should open up as fast as possible. The Curepipe-Port Louis pathway is the best one especially it lies within the Harbour-Airport axis. The Singapore LRT is way too small and its MRT too expensive. The idea of setting up aerial guideways would make expenditures even more colossal. If Mauritians were to invest in a sustainable project and had the will to do it sincerely, they should opt for 5-car low-floor trams designed by Bombardier/Alstom/Siemens. With the latter 2 they would even have benefited from UE funds. The one thing that flabbergast me with the current Gvt is they always stick with one and only one constructor's project. They don't make genuine bids & make their deal without negociation accepting whatever they're being told as though they were gullible dumbs.
If such a signifcant project proceeds, we would need an audit to make sure that the relevant stakeholders are not getting any personal benefits from it. If what Vedymin says has any truth, it seems very weird that there are no tenders done. However, I do not agree with Vedymin's comments about the SG MRT model. The whole model is based around scalability. Hence this model can be customised for Mauritians needs.
I concur with VeDymin, a well thoughout plan and well considered PLAM. AM AWARE OF THE BOMBARDIER / SIEMENS DEVELOPMENT AND IS A FEASIBLE PLAN DEVELOPMENT IF SUPPORTED BY EU as at the end of the day it is them who would pay and RAMGOOLAM will claim his Initiative. HOWEVER I DO NOT FEEL MAURITIUS IS READY FOR A SoPHISTICATED SYSTEM WITH HIGH MAINTENANCE COST AND '' CONCORTINA STYLE BUSES OR TRAMS ALONG A CiRCULAR ROUTE WITH CONNECTIONS TO SUB URBAN VIA DEDICATED MINI BUSES MUST BE CONSIDERED. IT IS NOT ''METRO LEGER '''BUT THE WHOLE CULTURE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND USE OF ROADS THAT IS REQUIRED. SINGAPORE IMPOSED A RESTRICTION ON ROAD USAGE BY MOTORIST DEPENDING ON THEIR REGISTRATION NUMBERS SO AS TO CONTROL TRAFFIC AND ALLOW EVERYONE AN OPORTUNITY BUT HERE IN MAURITIUS THE ISSUE IS NOT JUST MONEY OR THE RIGHT SYSTEM IT IS MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE THAN THAT....
REVé DO MO PEP ; le fameux beebeeJEANNE ene fois ti ale POPOME en INDE . LER INE FINI DIVERTI AU NOM DU PEUPLE .LI RENTRE MAURICE COUMA ENE JACK OF ALL TRADE VINE DIRE KI L' inde ki pou faire nous voyage dans metro. c pas du BLUFF ;vous pouvez verifiez.POLO ET LONDON BOY ZOT NISSA ça vanne reve .ENE LOT REVE ENCORE LE DREAM BRIDGE.
I sincerely think that the solution is basically quite simple. Firstly, Why should it be (always) PLouis,Cerepipe,Q Bornes etc etc. What about other places in mauritius? This is the main reason why we are facing such situation today. Why is Port Louis not decentralised ? Why is there no projects to decentralize (ok communication ). If anybody is interested to grab the bull by its horns then information technology is the solution. Most office jobs that can be done by going to the office can be done by doing it in a local office. now i would not mention who is going to get what sort of incentives in giving tenders to this one or that one. So the solution becomes political and even personal. well all this is only my opinion. wonder if anybody cares
The operating costs of a metro leger is very high and given the number of people susceptible to use it, a high ticket price will be needed to break even. Hence, in the end, the metro leger may not be attractive and will be under-utilised. Finally, huge subsidies (our tax money) will be needed for the daily operations. The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is a cheaper mass rapid transit option, which is ideal for the passenger demand between PW and PL, where the ticket price will be affordable. I am very surprised why our politicians are going for the metro leger instead. Even more surprised that the singaporean experts are for the project!!!
As for the peage, it is very important to apply it AFTER the mass rapid transit is up and running. And we should make sure that some parallel roads to the motorway (where peage will be implemented) does not receive the diverted traffic and gets jammed like never before.
Metro Léger: IL Y a un GOUFFRE entre la PRATIQUE et la THEORIQUE>
C'est ene gros casse-t6te (chinois) ca. Pke je pense que ce n'est PAS LA SOLUTION à nos problèmes de transport, d'embouteillage etc. Entre Curepipe il y a Une grosse PENTE. comment desservir la population des agglomerations des villes, éloigné du centre-ville. Il faudra trouver une gare à PL et une à Cpe + les gares intermédiaires. Le break-even point n'est atteint que par une population utilisateur de 5 millions au minimum. Le coût exorbitant de sa réalisation. La consommation d'enégie. Bref toute une panoplie de raisons fondamentales CONTRE le métro léger à Maurice sur une courte distance de 12 à 15 kilometres.
Nou pou reussi alle dans Guinness Book of records si nou reussi avec Metro Leger résoudre banne problèmes ki ena. Pas blier ki salaires banne mauriciens bien bas. Pense lotte manière. C'est meilleur conseil. Cet entêtement dans le mauvais sens coûtera très cher au Pays.
Pas casse la tete toi. Projet la pou prend encore 50 ans!
Let me address the Issue in english as it is one close to my heart. I am of the generation who remembers the sweet whistle of the train carrying sugar cane and other materials to Portlouis across Rosehill Beau bassin and NO ONE CAN DENY THAT THE NEED FOR A COLLECTIVE MEANS OF TRANSPORT SWIFT AND EFFICIENT IS A PARAMOUNT REQUIREMENT sur mon Ile Maurice.
But the Government is going '' Cap in hand '' to Europe for the realisation of this project and European Governments WILL SAY WE HAVE A SIMILAR DEVELOPMENT DEBVELOPMENT AT LA REUNION AND ECONOMIES OF SCALE AND COST AND INFRACTURE AND LOGISTICS CONSIDERATION AND OUR FINANCIAL ASSITANCE AND SUPPORT CAN ONLY BE IF YOU ADOPT SAME AS REUNION. SADLY THE REQUIREMENT OF MAURITIUS BECOMES A SECONDARY CONSIDERATION.
WE NEED TO CHANGE THE CULTURE AND ATTITUDE OF OUR CITIZENS TO MORE MUTUAL RESPECT AND COLLECTIVE TRANSPORT of a truly mauritian character and culture not to be misunderstood to a GIHARIEN style but indigenous of the local evolution will contribute to bulid respect if properly organised. AS TO THE INFRASTRUTURE MODEM OF COLLECTIVE TRANSPORT '' TERRA FERMA'' AS WE ALRAEDY HAVE THE OLD RAILWAY NETWORK ALBEIT ONE PTr Mp made his money by selling the locomotives and tracks but lets not deviate and wait until we have the right application for mauritius WAIT UNTIL WE CAN AFFORD IT AND ATTRACT INVESTMENT WAIT UNTIL WE HAVE THE REWUIRED SOLUTION AND LET'S NOT SEEK TO SCORE POLITICAL POINTS WITH THIS NEEDY DEVELOPMENT.