Proposal for metro between Mindspace and Shamshabad approved: K T Rama Rao

The proposal for a metro rail between Mindspace and Shamshabad has secured the nod from the State Cabinet and works on this stretch will begin soon, said KT Rama Rao, TRS working president and former Industries Minister.

The 30-km route has been proposed to ease traffic snarls in the IT hubs of Hitec City, Financial District all the way up to the international airport.

Speaking at the launch of JLL India’s new office in Hitec City, Rao said the key challenges before the Government are the rising congestion on the city roads and crumbling infrastructure. Work is being done to manage the situation, he said adding that a few more segments under the Strategic Road Development Programme will become operational shortly and that will help in easy movement, he said.

He also said that the proposed elevated bus rapid transit system will also prove handy in dealing with the congestion. It will connect Kukatpally and Wipro Junctions.

It may be recalled that work on the proposed metro rail project is already on and RV

Associates, one of the two bidders, had been selected as its DPR consultants. In July, the officials had announced that the DPR was to be ready in three months and the project work would start in six months. Electric buses would be used and the project was



expected to take about two-and-half years for completion. It would connect key nodes in the western part of the city, which had a high concentration of office clusters.

The ORR already has a dedicated 25 m right of way for the proposed high speed metro rail, which can touch speeds up to 120 kmph. It will have limited stops and the design will allow adequate space for luggage as well, he said.

Officials had earlier said that a PPP model for this would not work for this. To make the project financially viable, there were plans to develop a few townships along the ORR. This would encourage reverse travel, he said adding the high speed rail project would be executed by HAML.

Rao further said that the use of public transport in Hyderabad was only 36 per cent compared to cities like Mumbai, where the usage was about 75 per cent. Also, carpooling was yet to catch up in a big way in the city, he pointed out urging the corporate to join hands with Government in last mile connectivity solutions. Many companies were already ferrying their staff from metro and MMTS railway stations to their campuses back and forth. The companies can pair up with Government by planning to use the fleet effectively during non-peak hours for last mile connectivity.