Anyone travelling between Nagole and Mettuguda or Miyapur and S.R. Nagar will have noticed the metro rail running day and night with live simulation of actual announcements at the overhead stations. However, the question on everyone’s mind is when operations begin.
These two stretches of Hyderabad Metro Rail on corridor three and corridor one, respectively, are ready for commissioning having obtained all clearances.
The question has only became louder after Bengaluru and Kochi began the metro rail service much to the joy and pride of citizens there.
Officials insist these two corridors would be ready for commercial operations by the end of the year but are careful not to specify a date. After giving various dates, even Minister for Municipal Administration K.T. Rama Rao fell silent, deepening the suspense.
Is it for Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to take a call? With just a few gaps to be bridged on the railway tracks? Will it be thrown open to the public later this year?
Few officials are ready to stick their necks out on such issues, not even answering whether the government has given any extension to the concessionnaire, L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH), building the project.
The concessionnaire agreement (CA) mentions July 15 as the deadline for the project, but it can easily take a year to complete the remaining 66 kilometres, minus the 6 km old city line (corridor two - Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma) from MGBS (Imlibun) to Falaknuma with the government unable to convince the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Majlis party to build by the original alignment.
Operating cost
“We cannot be compared to other metros rails in the country because they are government-funded projects and can bear losses even if the trains run for short distances, unlike ours which is being built under the private, public partnership (PPP) mode. L&TMRH has invested a lot of money and metro rails worldwide do not make money and they have to calculate the operating costs from day one,” said HMR Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy.
The government has, therefore, decided to ensure that corridor one and corridor three are “ready in all respects, including pedestrian facilities below the station, first and last mile connectivity to nearby colonies through bikes, electric autos, buses, etc., and parking facilities, so that riders can comfortably travel from start to finish,” Mr. Reddy said.
“We do not want to do anything in a hurry, the government is clear about it. Our immediate target is to complete construction work till Begumpet and rail crossings,” he said.
On their part, the L&TMRH officials are only willing to say this: “It is up to the government to decide when to start operations!”
