The L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH), the concessionaire building the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) project in the city, would be the most environment-friendly public transport system not only in terms of using regenerative energy, but in reducing the water usage. Also, the unique station design would help in power-saving.
“The 41% of regenerative energy which will be fed back into the grid through the acceleration and deceleration of the train’s movement is going to be the highest among all other metros across the country,” informed top L&TMRH officials explaining several key initiatives taken during the planning and construction stages.
With 30 km of the metro rail slated for inauguration next month-end (Miyapur to Ameerpet- 13 km and Nagole to Ameerpet- 17 km), the officials claimed that the stations have been designed after studying the city’s terrain, so that regenerative energy could be utilised for maximum advantage.
Those who witnessed the downpour from the viaduct during rains may find it difficult to believe, but the project is expected to achieve 34% reduction in water usage due to low flow water closets, urinals and faucets. Besides, it also aims to capture 75% of run-off volumes from stations, 50% from the viaduct and at median, through its rainwater harvesting efforts.
“About 40% reduction in lighting power density over the standard requirement is estimated because of LED fixtures at all the stations, signages along with dimmers/dimmable lights, with dimming schedule in passenger area and building the management system and trains,” they explained.
Stations designed with spine and wing arrangement have helped reduce the tunnelling effect and cut down the land acquisition cost for the government. They are slated to have 88% illumination level at platform and concourse areas, reducing the electricity requirements during the day.
Enhanced security
The facility would be accessible for wheelchair-bound, visually-impaired and hearing-impaired commuters while staff assistance would be provided for the elderly, differently-abled and the needy. For enhanced security, there would be baggage screening devices, hand-held devices, CCTV monitoring, access control system etc.
The metro rail officials also said first-aid medical assistance would be provided at concourse level at all the stations with planning done for normal passenger flow and emergency evacuation scenarios.
Fire protection, emergency lighting, public address and passenger information display system, auto-opening of ticketing gates, sizing of the staircases etc., have been done as per the relevant standards.
