The L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) is now building a second ‘reversal’, this time on Corridor Two from Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) to Mahatama Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS), Imlibun.
With the metro rail construction coming to a halt at MGBS, without proceeding towards old city up to Falaknuma, the HMR authorities have been forced to build the ‘reversal’ (580 metres of viaduct), which goes beyond the MGBS inter-change station.
This is to enable metro trains to take a reverse and return to the MGBS station on the next track since the terminal station at Falaknuma is not being built. The first such ‘reversal’ viaduct is at an advanced stage of construction at Hi-Tec City for a similar purpose on Corridor Three as the terminal station at Raidurg is not yet ready.
In the meantime, the HMR authorities are planning to start operations between Ameerpet and Hi-Tec City next month, and they would by run trains on separate tracks as the ‘reversal’ is not yet ready. However, the situation is not the same on Corridor Two as there are no such major obstacles for building the reversal with 22 piers (pillars), while the stretch from JBS to MGBS (9 km) is expected to be completed in the next three months for commercial services by summer. The interesting aspect of the work at MGBS is connecting Corridor One (Miyapur to L.B. Nagar which is fully operational from September last year) and Corridor Two through a fresh-elevated viaduct of 224 metres and eight more piers. “We have been forced to go for this construction as the proposed third metro maintenance depot at Falaknuma on a 17-acre site is not happening. By connecting the two corridors, we can bring the metro trains to Miyapur for maintenance,” explained HMR Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy.
An ‘extra’ one-kilometre long viaduct was built between Gandhi Hospital and Bhoiguda junction through Padmarao Nagar road towards Chilakalguda without any stations to connect Corridor Two and Corridor Three so that metro trains could be taken to the depot at Uppal.
“We had to come out with several out-of-the-box solutions to commission the project, which includes stop-gap reversals and connecting corridors to ensure that trains on Corridor Two have access to maintenance depots at Uppal and Miyapur,” added Mr. Reddy.