The Hindu : Front Page : Long-awaited metro rail for city

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Sunday, Jan 21, 2007
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Long-awaited metro rail for city

Special Correspondent

Cabinet clears Rs. 8,760-crore project; to be operational by March, 2009

HYDERABAD: The long-awaited Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), a Rs. 8,760-crore metro rail project, to ease the traffic congestion in the twin cities, was cleared by the Cabinet on Saturday.

A 12-km-long stretch of the proposed 66.39-km-long metro rail line connecting Miyapur to Khairatabad is proposed to be made operational by March 2009.

Conceived on the lines of metro rail in Delhi, the ambitious project will cover three main arterial routes in the State capital. It will be a fast-track project designed to be completed in four years through private-public partnership. A special purpose vehicle --Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited -- will be constituted to implement the project on a build, operate & transfer (BOT) basis.

Comprising two tracks for up and down traffic on an elevated deck mounted on single-pillar row, will criss-cross the city without disturbing traffic during execution as the pillars will be raised in the middle of the road. Information Minister Mohd Ali Shabbir told reporters that work on the project would begin in June this year. The three routes on which the MRTS will be taken up are: Miyapur - Punjagutta - M. J. Market - Chaitanyapuri - L. B. Nagar (29.87 km with 27 stations); Jubilee Bus Station - Secunderabad railway station - Sultan Bazar - Falaknuma (14.78 km with 16 stations); and Habsiguda - Tarnaka - Begumpet - Yousufguda - Shilparamam (21.74 km with 20 stations).

Mr. Shabbir Ali said all the 63 stations would be connected with feeder bus services. The coaches would be air-conditioned and have automatic doors. The trains would travel at an average speed of 34 kmph and a maximum of 80 kmph.

Cost factor

The Minister said each kilometre of the project would cost Rs. 132 crores and the fare would range from Rs. 8 to Rs. 19. Consortia of five groups of companies had been pre-qualified in the tenders called to execute the project.

They included the rail giants like Siemen, Bombardier, Alstom, ItalThai, SREI and Indian firms like Reliance Enegy, GVK, Navabharat. Technical and financial bids will be finalised in two months after Central clearance.

The Centre and State would each contribute 20 per cent of the cost while the rest would be borne by the developers.

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