The Ameerpet to L.B Nagar metro section is likely to be thrown open to the public only around the first week of September, L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) announced on Tuesday. While trial runs are in full swing, all the works, testing and commissioning activities have been completed, it said.
Chief Executive Officer and MD K.V.B. Reddy informed that the “application to Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) has been submitted on July 31 and the Independent Safety Assessor (ISA), Halcrow (U.K.) is currently doing safety assessment of the signalling system”.
The CMRS will be inspecting the section, which will complete Corridor One or the Red Line from Miyapur to L.B. Nagar, on receipt of the ISA Certificate.
“We are confident after the Ameerpet-LB Nagar line becomes operational, the public at large will choose this comfortable, safe, time-saving and environment-friendly mode of transport to their advantage,” Mr. Reddy said.
Record number
Mr. Reddy pointed out that a record number of about 1.5 lakh passengers travelled on the Hyderabad Metro Rail trains between Nagole-Ameerpet-Miyapur what with the RTC buses and autos keeping off the roads on Tuesday.
“We had 92,000 passengers travelling on a single day last Saturday and after today’s ridership, it is clear that there is an increasing patronage for our project and it is fast becoming the transportation lifeline for citizens of the capital,” he said.
HMR MD N.V.S. Reddy said 60 extra trips were run taking the daily trips to 580 and the passenger surge eased after the buses were back on the road towards evening.
Uptrend in passengers is being attributed to availability of rent-a-bicycle/two-wheeler services at around 15 metro stations — Miyapur, JNTU, KPHB, Kukatpally, Ameerpet, Begumpet, Prakash Nagar, Rasoolpura, Paradise, Parade grounds, Secunderabad, Habsiguda, NGRI, Uppal, Nagole - all available through Smart Bikes, PEDL, Metro Bikes and Drivezy.
Self-driven electric vehicles are available at Miyapur station while fuel cars from Zoom car are available at Miyapur and Parade Ground stations. Percentage of smart card usage too has gone up to around 50% with 2.75 lakh of those sold.
