Hyderabad: The delay in MMTS trains has been a consistent problem, despite repeated complaints from the commuters. The MMTS have to share a single track with express trains. When it is a toss-up between the two, it is the MMTS that has to give way to long-distance trains, according to railway officials.
Mr P. Venkateshwarlu, an IT employee who takes the MMTS to go from Begumpet to Hitec City daily, said, “Many of the employees use this service to commute from their homes to office. Going on time is really important as there are chances of our salaries getting deducted if we are delayed because of the login systems.”
He said the MMTS was the the cheapest mode of transport without the hurdles of thick traffic on the Hitec City route. “If these trains run on time, that would relieve us from the office stress.”
Some of the commuters took to Twitter to expresses their disappointment with the MMTS. One of the tweets said, “Mere assurances are being given in punctuality of trains, especially MMTS 47132 never reach Lakdikapool & Hyderabad stations in time. It's a regular practice, office goers suffering. Pls resolve (sic).”
When contacted, a railway official said it was known that the delays occurred mostly during the morning and evening when there were more long distance trains arriving and leaving the city’s main stations. This mostly coincides with the peak hour for local trains as well.
“There is no special track for MMTS services, the single track has to accommodate express and local trains,” he said. The official added, “We mostly give top priority to MMTS services keeping in mind that employees use the services, but during peak hours it becomes a problem. The MMTS trains run on time for the rest of the day.”
Even after the advent of Metro Rail, there has been no disturbance in the dedicated share of commuters and their ridership.
