Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metro Rail operations from Ameerpet to Hitec City have officially begun on Wednesday amid selfies, videos, and cheers from the residents living in the stretch.
Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan was accompanied by the Chief Secretary S. K. Joshi, DGP M. Mahender Reddy, Municipal Administration Secretary Arvind Kumar, GHMC Commissioner M. Dana Kishore, Additional DGP (Law & Order) M. Jitender, and the Commissioners of Police, Hyderabad, Cyber-abad and Rachakonda Anjani Kumar, V. C. Sajjanar, and Mahesh Bhagwat. After flagging off the train at Ameerpet station, Mr Narasimhan and other dignitaries enjoyed 10-km ride till Hitec City junction.
With the opening of this crucial link, commuters can now easily travel to the highly congested IT/ITES areas of Hitec City, Gachibowli, Jubilee Hills, and other popular places like HITEX Exhibition Center, etc., in comfortable Metro trains.
The steep curvatures at the Metro stations at Peddamma Temple and Jubilee Hills have given shivers to the first time commuters. Although the train will slow down at the respective stations, it can make some passengers uncomfortable due to the steep and slight tilt.
The Ameerpet-Hitec stretch also has a women-managed station named Taruni-Madhura Nagar station. Authorities claim-ed that eventually, the station will have shops which will cater to the needs of women and children.
HMRL officials said that trains will initially run on a 5 km stretch between Jubilee Hills Check Post and Hitec City station following the traditional railway practice called the 'twin single line method'. In this method, the two tracks are treated as two separate single lines and trains are operated in both ‘up and down’ direction on each line separately, till the ‘reversal’ beyond Hitec City station is completed. With the completion of the 10-km stretch, the HMRL will cover 56 km out of 72 km in the three corridors from Nagole to Miyapur, LB Nagar to Ameerpet, and Ameerpet to Hitec City.
HMRL Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy and the L&T CEO and MD K.V.B. Reddy informed that efforts were in pro-gress to synchronize operations of the trains coming from Nagole on the Ameerpet-Hitec City till the 600 metres ‘reversal’ via duct construction bet-ween Hotel Trident and Cyber Towers is completed, which may take up to two months.
Mr N.V.S. Reddy also said that the Metro rail in the 9.5-km stretch between Jubilee Bus Station and MGBS will commence in November and that the status of the remaining 5 km from Mahatma Gandhi Bus station to Falaknuma will be announced after the Lok Sabha polls. He also said that another 1.5-km stretch up to Raidurg station will be completed by this year.
Meanwhile, after flagging off the train, Gover-nor and the senior officials traveled by the Metro train from Ameerpet to Hitec City and back. During the ride, Mr N.V.S. Reddy explained the engineering and innovation behind the Hyderabad Metro Rail project to the Governor and told him about the kind of foresight and planning that has gone into the project, which makes the Hyderabad Metro one of the best Metros in the world.
The Governor advised Mr N.V.S. Reddy to make arrangements for wider footpaths and for people to sit, relax, and enjoy the street food, as in the cities of developed countries. The Governor also advised the Chief Secretary, Muni-cipal Administration, and the MD, to quickly introduce electric vehicles, minibusses, and buses, to provide the first mile and last mile connectivity at Metro stations so as to de-congest the roads and curb the pollution in the city.
The MD also mentioned to the Governor that the Metro Rail is five times more energy efficient when compared to road travel and that, in addition, 40 percent of the energy generated through regenerative braking is also fed back into the system.
Honking protest at ameerpet metro station
Commuters offended by the obstruction caused due to VVIP movement near the Ameerpet metro station staged a honking protest for few minutes.
The traffic police on Wednesday morning bloc-ked the incoming traffic from Maitrivanam for at least 20 minutes at 10.30 am to facilitate the hassle-free movement of VVIPs including the Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, who was accompanied by Chief Secretary S.K. Josh and other senior officials, to inaugurate Metro for the Hitec City stretch.
Irked by the peak hour traffic and blockage, commuters, particularly officers, honked continuously for at least a few minutes.
Alerted by this, the traffic police cleared the traffic within 10 minutes after the departure of the VVIPs from the spot.
