Hyderabad: The City will have the first Elevated Bus Rapid Transit System (EBRTS) connecting the airport.
Two firms: RITES, a PSU of Indian Railways, and Aarvee Associates participated in the tenders called by the Hyderabad Airport Metro Ltd (HAML) for preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the EBRTS project.
The 20-km stretch connecting Metro corridor-II with corridor–III will pass through KPHB Metro station — Forum Mall, Hitec City, Hitex-Shilparamam, Mindspace junction and will cover the whole of the Financial District and will end at Narsingi (ORR) to connect to the airport in the future.
Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited managing director NVS Reddy said that after technical evaluation, both firms were found qualified and their financial bids were opened on Wednesday.
He said while Aarvee Associates had quoted Rs 1, 206 crore, RITES quoted Rs 1.29 crore for preparation of the DPR.
Based on the combined technical and financial score, the former was awarded the work for the preparation of the DPR.
Mr Reddy said that the firm had to submit the DPR within three months, which included alignment fixation, location of stations, traffic studies and ridership estimation, soil investigation, social and environmental impact assessment, financial model etc.
Mr Reddy said that there would be stations for every 0.5km, unlike Metro rail which had a station for every km, and average speed of the articulated buses could be 20 km to 30 km based on the demand.
He said that the proposed project was also aimed at enhancing the last mile connectivity.
He said that the station would be elevated but the viaduct for the EBRTS would be at a much lesser height of a little over 5.5 metres with piers and elevated to be thinner with an eight-metre width to accommodate two bus lanes.
