The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : MMTS gains acceptance of commuters CITY PULSE

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

MMTS gains acceptance of commuters CITY PULSE

M. Srinivas

Today, the service completes five years with over 1 lakh commuters travelling on 92 trains daily

— PHOTO: NAGARA GOPAL

Full throttle: Fed up with traffic jams in twin cities, Hyderabadis prefer the Multi Modal Transit System. MMTS services are packed with passengers especially young professionals who prefer taking the train rather than getting stuck in a traffic gridlock.

HYDERABAD: After facing initial hiccups due to bureaucratic hassles, Multi Modal Transit System (MMTS) is finally gaining acceptance among passengers more so from those working in IT and ITES sectors.

Reliable alternative

Thanks to the escalating traffic coupled with air pollution and booming infrastructure development on the city suburbs, surely MMTS has become a reliable alternative to any other mode of transport.

From its humble beginnings to this day, which also coincides with completion of its five years in twin cities, the patronage has registered a phenomenal growth from 10,600 commuters in 2003 through 48 train services to over a lakh commuters today. This, despite the fact that access to basic passenger facilities still remains a far cry from what it was promised during its launch.

The days of trains, sporting empty coaches chugging from station to station with a few passengers to either pick or drop are gone by.

These days, a majority of the train services are packed to the brim, reaching the destinations within 30 minutes.

More than one lakh commuters are now travelling on 92 trains everyday.

The patronage is likely to increase further during the next few months, given the fact that the soon-to-begin construction of metro rail is expected to throw traffic into chaos at all the main routes.

With MMTS becoming a preferred public transport for people working in and around HITEC City, several multi-national companies are also running shuttle services for their employees from and to HITEC City railway station while others taking a shared auto.

As it is turning out to be a daunting task for reaching offices by road via Begumpet and Punjagutta, employees prefer travelling in MMTS trains from nearby railway stations.

It’s a hassle-free drive for employees staying in Marredpally, Tarnaka, Sainikpuri, Uppal and Malkajgiri to reach their offices in Madhapur and Gachibowli.

“We are parking vehicles at Secunderabad railway station and board the train to reach office within 30 minutes. It’s a two hours journey by road”, says R. Premnath, a call centre employee.

The MMTS first-phase covers a distance of 43-kms of Secunderabad – Nampally – Lingampally and Secunderabad – Falaknuma stations.

MMTS Project Director S. Subba Rao says the response from passengers was tremendous after introducing combined bus tickets.

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