Take A Ride

One of my co-workers feels that this blog has been a bit down on India. So he told me to take a ride…on the Delhi Metro.

It was amazing. In case you haven’t heard, the Delhi Metro is a screaming success story. There is limited service now but there will be more than 270 kilometers of rail connecting the city by the time the project is finished. Not only is the construction on-time and under-budget, but I actually enjoyed my ride on the Yellow Line. The station was clean, the maps were clear and the cars were air-conditioned.

More importantly, the Delhi Metro is being cited as an example of business and government working together to make things happen. And it is inspiring action across the country. The genius behind the metro is a 74-year-old yoga-loving engineer and railways expert, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, who has demonstrated that he can get it done by ably managing his cash, staff and process. The construction has been environmentally friendly and they are ensuring handicap accessibility. But what is most impressive is that he is doing all this construction under a bustling city! Click here for an interesting article on Elattuvalapil.

Not that there hasn’t been controversy. Some neighborhoods are concerned about having elevated tracks and current ridership numbers are lower than expected. People are still riding those crazy buses! But, overall, the process has been a smooth ride (bad pun intended).

Unlike the harried experiences of scooters, rickshaws and buses, I arrived cool, calm and collected at my destination after my Metro ride. And all for less than 20 cents. Maybe we could convince Elattuvalapil to come to New York to help with the Second Avenue line.