Hyderabad: In a major development, the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) on Friday got clearance from the Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) to run the metro on the 10- km stretch from Ameerpet to Hitec city.
The HMRL authorities had already begun the trial runs in November last year and clearance was only given after detailed inspection and tests by the CMRS. How-ever, the inaugural date is yet to be announced to commence passenger operations. The HMRL authorities expect a footfall of at least 30,000 on the Ameerpet-Hitec City route which would enable a hassle-free journey, especially for the techies.
HMRL official said, “As the works to facilitate the reversal between Hitec City station and Hotel Trident could get extended, the Metro Rail services will be operated till Hitech City station to begin with. For now, the metro will run through eight stations including Madhuranagar, Yousufg-uda, Jubilee Hills Check-post, Peddamma temple, Madhapur, Durgam Cher-uvu, and Hitech City.”
He said that services will run on independent single lines from Ameerpet to the Jubilee Hills Check Post station and then switch lines towards Hitec City station, and vice-versa, using a mix of conventional railway signaling and Communication Based Train Control . The official said that as of now, as many as 1.75 lakh passengers have been traveling on a daily basis in the corridors from Miyapur to LB Nagar and Nagole to Ameerpet and that once services commence on the Ameerpet-Hitec City route, the footfall would increase by 30,000 initially and eventually, 50,000.
HMRL MD N. V. S. Red-dy said that the inaugural date will be announced soon after their discussion with the state government. He said that commencement of metro on the Ameerpet-Hitec route would be a major relief to commuters who have been suffering hours-long traffic jams on a regular basis. He said that the metro would now run along 56-km in three stretches including Miyapur-LB Nagar (29 km), Nagole-Ameerpet (17 km), and Ameerpet-Hitech city (10 km).
