The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ‘Elevated metro only for core area of city’

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Monday, Jul 07, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

‘Elevated metro only for core area of city’

It’s eco-friendly: HMR MD

Elevated metro can transport 16 lakh people a day
MMTS can only be an additional support facility

HYDERABAD: The government had opted for elevated metro rail in the core area of city only after examining the alternative modes of public transport system including Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), asserted Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) Limited Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy on Sunday.

Low peak passenger carrying capacity, several intersections, mixed traffic, et al ruled out taking up BRTS. The Multi-Mode Transport System (MMTS) could only be an additional support facility as its peak carrying capacity even if 314 trains from the current 100 would be about 2.1 lakh.

MMTS was not a dedicated system and was sharing rails with railways, hence it was difficult to increase train traffic leading to poor frequency. Other issue was the railways concentration on long distance trains, freight traffic movement and the Centre making suburban transport a State responsibility.

The HMR MD was participating in an interactive session organised by ‘Concerned Citizens’ at Centre for Economic and Social Studies. Parallel surface tracks were not possible because 30 metres free land was not available along with gradient problems and built up area.

Elevated metro scores for it can transport 16 lakh passengers a day to start with and was eco-friendly. Mr. Reddy, however, refused to share detailed project report details as it had “commercial value” and tender documents too. Yet, he was ready to show the files to interested persons in his office.

Rushing through

C. Ramachandraiah of Citizens for Better Public Transport and a critic of the project, stuck to his guns charging the government with rushing through the project without public debate.

Former Minister and TDP city chief K. Vijayarama Rao said while his government had given in principle nod to elevated metro, a holistic approach was needed to provide better public transport. Advisor to government and former SCR GM T. Stanley Babu was present.

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