Hyderabad Metro exit shut early, users cry

Hyderabad: Metro Rail commuters are complaining about the early closure of gates at the stations. They claimed that though the lifts and exit gates were supposed to close at 10.30 pm, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) officials were closing them at 10.10 pm without prior intimation to the commuters.

Elderly commuters and women are the ones suffering with the early shutdown of elevators and escalators.

Mr P.V.S.N. Murthy, a Metro Rail commuter, said, “We experienced this for the second time at the Secunderabad East station. We disembarked from the train at 22.10 pm and saw that both the lifts were closed, along with all the exits. We were told that we are late and only one exit was open. My wife, who has a knee problem had to walk to find the open gate.”

He said all the exit doors and lifts are supposed to closed at least 15 to 20 minutes after the last train leaves the station. Mr Murthy added that the protocol for the Hyderabad Metro Rail was discriminatory against senior citizens and the differently-abled.

Echoing his concerns, Mr Dhanraj Rao from Chikkadpally claimed that with with the work at the local Metro Rail station incomplete, it had become extremely difficult to park vehicles. He said that the lack of footpaths and incomplete construction of staircases were troubling commuters.

Bad roads and absence of footpaths at Musheerabad, RTC crossroads, Chikkadpal-ly, Narayanguda and Sultan Bazaar stations have been irking commuters. They also complain about the single exit and entry gate at Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) as it is jam-packed during the peak hours.

The issues came up at the city convergence meeting held on Saturday, where Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation commissioner D.S. Lokesh Kumar asked HMRL officials to take up road and footpath restoration works and development of the central medians. The commissioner instructed the authorities to hand over the stretch from the Jubilee Bus Station to the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station to the corporation.