Hyderabad: After launching shuttle services in IT corridors, the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) has decided to implement the same at 8 other busy stations across the three stretches in the city in an effort to facilitate government and private employees in their transit to and from work.
However, unlike in the IT corridors, the HMRL has decided to charge a nominal fee of Rs 10 for the service, which is anticipated to commence very soon. They claimed that L&T had not been charging commuters for the last mile connectivity service in Hitec City since the inception of the facility.
The HMRL, however, has planned to charge Rs 10 for the same in the other corridors in order to attract private investors to participate in the initiative.
About 20 IT and ITES companies, including Novartis, Value Labs, Epam, Invesco, and ICICI Bank among others, are now operating shuttle services from Hitec City and Durgam Cheruvu stations to their respective campuses.
These services include buses, cars, and minibusses among others.
In addition to this, L&TMRHL’s ‘merry-go-round’ services from Durgam Cheruvu and Hitec City Metro stations have become fairly popular among commuters.
Further, despite the free services being offered by L&T, officials claimed that commuters had been voluntarily offering to pay Rs 10 per trip.
In the wake of this, the HMRL has resolved to start similar services in collaboration with private players at 8 other busy metro stations which have been facing parking issues.
HMRL MD N.V.S. Reddy explained that in order to enhance the reach of the service to government and private employees, last mile connectivity would be set up in Uppal, LB Nagar, Dilsukhnagar, Lakdikapool, Gandhi Bhavan, Ameerpet, JNTU/KPHB, and Miyapur. He also said that the aforestated stations had enough footfall to attract investors.
Mr Reddy added that the services should begin in a few weeks and that as of now, 2 private firms had expressed their readiness to work with the HMRL in public interest.
“We’ll begin with a few buses, cars, and minibusses, and the number and frequency of vehicles will be revised based on demand,” he said.
About charging Rs 10 for shuttle services in IT and other corridors, Mr Reddy explained that commuters were voluntarily choosing to pay the amount, most likely because they considered the service to be worth it, and also because it's a fraction of the money that they had been paying auto drivers to get to work.
He gave his word for the fact that the cost of the service will be maintained at Rs 10 across the city irrespective of the distance, the maximum distance being 5 km.
