Bhagyam is a domestic worker who travels six days a week from Hyderabad’s suburbs to the bustling Ameerpet business centre. She works in an advertising office and two other houses in the neighhourhood before returning home to Lingampally in the evening by Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) suburban train service run by the South Central Railway (SCR).
The minimum cost of a one-way ticket is just ₹5 (₹15 maximum) and has not changed since the inception of the service way back in August 2003. Naturally, for her and scores of other low-income workers, vendors, small-businesspersons and even the IT/ITES support staff, this is the lifeline public transport.
Yet, of late the local train services have become erratic with the railway authorities frequently cancelling services citing “maintenance” or “lack of patronage”, leaving citizens like Bhagyam high and dry. “MMTS train travel is convenient, cheaper and quicker besides being safer. But, the trains’ schedule is not maintained, making it very difficult for reach our workplaces on time. As we work in more than one house, a 30-minute delay or a sudden cancellation [hits us hard and] makes it very difficult for us to rely on the service,” she says.
In the last 90 days, SCR has cancelled services across sections for a total of 46 days. “Our occupancy is not even 50%, forcing us to cancel services. We have not even reached the pre-Covid ridership level,” says General Manager Arun Kumar Jain during a media interaction.
The MMTS’ daily ridership has dropped to 45,000-50,000 passengers a day for its truncated 70-odd services. Before COVID, the MMTS was carrying 1.20 lakh passengers across 121 services. In sharp contrast, Hyderabad Metro Rail is packed to capacity, carrying more than four lakh passengers daily.
While the metro rail resumed operations after a five-month gap post the nationwide shutdown, the MMTS took 15 months to restart even as the SCR was running labour specials and other long-distance plus freight trains after a two-month shutdown.
“Being the cheapest mode of transport, the MMTS not being patronised is a tragedy. The SCR should run services at 10-15 minute frequency at least on a pilot basis for a couple of months and then gauge the public response,” argues D. Nagarjuna, a senior citizen from Kushaiguda. “What is the point of running a service [in name only] when it is not useful to people, with erratic and unimaginative timings in the morning and evening peak hours,” questions Suburban and MMTS Train Travellers Association secretary and ex-railway staffer Noor Mohammed.
Citizens cite other “inconveniences”. For instance, a train starts from Medchal at 8.30 a.m. and reaches Secunderabad at 9.55 a.m. and by the time one gets out of the station, it has been another 30 minutes. This makes even railway staff late to reach their respective desks near the station. The earlier service reaches at 8.30 a.m. which is too early to be practical.
It is even more arduous for passengers coming from either Medchal or Bolarum for Hi-Tec City/Lingampally, where IT/ITES firms and many malls operate, because the train halts at either platform 4 or 6 in the Secunderabad station whereas the MMTS train towards Lingampally starts from platform 10.
“MMTS services are not going with full load due to inadequate awareness. Trains not running as per scheduled timings, and there is a lack of parking facilities for vehicles at stations. Why not run with four or five coaches instead of 12 till passenger strength improves?” suggests N.S.K. Prasad from Sainikpuri. “With MMTS trains, you are not sure when the next service is and there are no trains during peak hours,” says V. Suresh Kumar from Malkajgiri.
“We owe about ₹165 crore, all these years, the MMTS project and the funds have been used to improve railway infrastructure to run more freight trains and express trains without bothering about local services. Now, talking about having a dedicated line for suburban services is rubbish. It is clear that Railways wants to kill the project,” say top officials, wishing to remain anonymous.
The 20th anniversary of the MMTS fell on August 9, 2023. Only a smattering of dedicated travellers and local railway authorities bothered to mark the day.
