Hyderabad: Metro Rail parking, e-vehicles, bus bays and other end-to-end connectivity transport services will only come up in 2018. While commercial operations have started on the 30 km stretch, the of end-to-end connectivity facilities are not quite ready ostensibly because the planners were way off in their assessment of Metro’s reach which has been truly phenomenal.
The ridership has consistently been 1 lakh a day for the last one and-a-half months and planners at Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) are under severe pressure to get the connectivity up and running fast.
Managing director of HMRL N.V.S. Reddy said, “The response has been encouraging and soon we will also provide parking at all 24 stations. Two big parking lots are coming up at Rasoolpura and Ameerpet.”
Currently, the area outside the Miyapur depot is being used for parking by four-wheelers. The space is full to capacity all day, which reflects that most long-distance commuters use Metro to go to office and park their vehicles there for the entire day, only to collect them at the end of the day after work.
Planners believe that once the Hi-Tec to LB Nagar route starts from in 2018, traffic congestion in the city will ease up considerably. There will be fewer traffic snarls at junctions. There is considerable pressure to develop last-mile connectivity for this reason alone, besides of course making Metro service a complete transport solution.
With phase I seeing a major success, the government is keen to extend the line till the Shamshabad airport. Despite PVNR Flyover being a very convenient mode, there is demand to have a Metro link to the airport looking to the increase in traffic volume in the future. The planners are also looking keenly into the Japan model of Metro for inspiration.
Next year will see more Metro lines coming up as part of the phase II. The general opinion is to continue with the elevated Metro rail like in phase I, given that hard rock surfaces and the topography of the region make digging for underground railway unviable.
