When Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan flagged off the metro train from the Ameerpet metro interchange station to L. B. Nagar in the city suburb on Monday afternoon, Hyderabad Metro Rail became the second largest metro network in the country after Delhi with a total of 46 km service.
Unique distinction
The opening of 16 km stretch completes the entire Corridor One of Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project of 29 km from Miyapur to L.B.Nagar. This, along with 30 km of inaugural metro line of Nagole-Ameerpet-Miyapur in November, got the capital this unique distinction.
The inaugural route is part of Corridor Three — Nagole to Ameerpet (17 km) and Corridor One — Miyapur to Ameerpet (13 km) and more than a lakh passengers have been riding on the trains. The number of riders is only expected to double with latest opening of metro stretch, announced Minister for Municipal Administration K.T. Rama Rao during a presentation made to the Governor at L.B. Nagar.
Construction is under way on two other routes: Corridors Two — Jubilee Bus Station to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS)/Falaknuma - 15 km and Corridor Three — Nagole to HiTec City/Raidurg - 28 km. Altogether, 72 km of elevated metro line is being built on three dense traffic corridors.
A special feature of the latest metro stretch is the commissioning of MGBS interchange metro station touted to be among the largest in Asia (460 ft/150 ft) where Corridor Two metro line on top will halt here for now. The original plan is to build it into the old city till Falaknuma. The Minister said HMR was also the world’s largest public-private partnership project with the Government spending close to ₹3,000 crore for land acquisition, road widening and shift of utilities and L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) investing more than ₹12,000 crore while the Central Government is chipping in with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of ₹1,458 crore for the entire work estimated to cost up to ₹14,132 crore.
HMR was also taking care of improving ground level infrastructure all along the metro corridors like designer footpaths, drains and signages while barricading is being taken up underneath stations to prevent spillover of passengers onto the main road. All metro stations could be used as road crossovers. Frequency of trains is about 7-8 minutes and first train chugs in at 6.30 a.m. and last train 10.30 p.m.
First and last mile connectivity is being provided through bicycles, bikes and taxis. Soon electric charging points will be provided for bringing in electric vehicles into its fold, he added. The Governor commended the project and requested the citizens to make use of the facility for the sake of personal health and environment. He called for speedy induction of smart card/smart phone ticket facility and opening of HiTec City line by Dec.15.
Mayor B. Rammohan, Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi, HMR MD N.V.S. Reddy, and L&TMRH CEO & MD K.V.B. Reddy were present.