South Central Railway General Manager D.P. Pande on Saturday said that while there were delays and initial glitches pertaining to works on Phase II of the Multi-Modal Transit System (MMTS), work would start very soon.
At a press conference, he said three phases of contracts were awarded in the project and issues like alignment of tracks and as to how people in crowded urban areas could cross the tracks safely were being considered.
“In many places we will have bridges over or under, but the fact remains that land acquisition is a time-consuming process,” he stated, after releasing the MMTS Time-Table 2013.
Asked about rail connectivity with the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Mr. Pande said that the idea was to have both MMTS between Umdanagar and Shamshabad and the L&T Hyderabad Metro Rail touch the airport.
GMR’s call
“The ball is in GMR’s court and how it will get both transport systems connect with the airport is their call. Their designers are trying to figure out how to fit both into the airport,” he said.
Replying to a question about the seemingly abnormal delay in grounding works on making Secunderabad a world-class station, he asked, “What in your opinion is a world-class station and what kind of facilities would you expect? There are three international consultants working with the Railway Board and we will get a blueprint on world-class stations by the end of the year, spelling out what exactly needs to be built and it will be applicable for all stations across the country.”
