Four new rail passenger terminals at Moula Ali, Medchal, Umdanagar/Shamshabad and Edulanagulapalle, on the city outskirts have been proposed to meet the rising demand of inter-city rail operations in coming decades.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Area at present is catered by only three major terminals for both inter-city and intra-city services with 65 trains operated from Secunderabad railway station, 15 trains from Kachiguda and 26 trains from Nampally.
Together, these three stations were found to serve 52 million passengers in 2011 and as per projections made by Comprehensive Transportation Study (CTS), the number of passengers could rise to 56.84 million by 2021, 59.99 million by 2031 and swell to 61.64 million by 2041.
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Given the anticipated rise in the passenger numbers in coming decades, CTS report commissioned by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) suggested four new passenger terminals.
A concept note prepared points out that increasing patronage for the intra-city operations would require additional right of way or dedicated tracks. “This necessitates a conceptual reuse of existing route network by shifting the inter-city terminal facilities to the city fringes and by augmenting the intra-city services like MMTS and suburban rail on existing route network,” it suggests.
Both the CTS and also HMDA’s Metropolitan Development Plan-2031 has proposed the four new terminals. Although, railway officials sought a passenger terminal at Hi-Tech City station, they were advised to go further up on the route either at Lingampally or Tellapur/Edulanagulapalle, the concept note added.
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