Hyderabad metro network expands by additional 16-km

A 16-km stretch of Hyderabad Metro Rail between Ameerpet and L B Nagar was Monday inaugurated by Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana E S L Narasimhan, making the entire Corridor-I phase operational.

With the inauguration of this route having 16 stations, the entire 29 km of corridor-I from Miyapur to LB Nagar is now open for passenger operations.

Corridor-I (Miyapur-LB Nagar: 29 km, 27 stations) is one of the most congested traffic corridors of Hyderabad.

With 46 km now operational, it is India's second largest Metro Rail network, next only to Delhi. It provides a crucial link between the north-western and the south-eastern parts of the city through its core.

In November 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the 30-km Miyapur-Nagole stretch (24 stations) of the 72-km-long elevated Hyderabad Metro Rail project, the world's largest such public-private partnership project.

The concessionaire L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited is building the project across three corridors.

The Governor later travelled from Ameerpet to LB Nagar by Metro train.

Speaking at a meeting organised at LB Nagar Metro station, the Governor set the target for completion of Hi-Tec City Metro line as December 2018.

Narasimhan said it is the responsibility of travellers to ensure cleanliness at Metro stations in the city.

He asked citizens to utilise the Metro services.

"This will give us relief from pollution on the roads, besides fuel savings and also help by allowing emergency vehicles like amublances to go freely on the roads.

I would request citizens of Hyderabad to make Metro a habit...train your minds to use the metro," Narasimhan said, adding "as a Governor I also travel by Metro".

Narasimhan said he dreamt of a single card to facilitate travel in the Metro train, besides to do shopping and also travel by bus, among other things.

He asked the public to first use the metro,give feedback on how services could be improved and not just criticise it.

He congratulated the Central and state governments and L&T for creating a wonderful structure.

IT and Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao said the total project cost is Rs 14,132 crore.

"The state government is spending nearly Rs 3,000 crore for land acquisition, while the Central government is giving 1,450 crore towards Viability Gap Funding (VGF) and L&T is investing over 12,000 crore," he said.

Rao said now (in the 30-km Miyapur-Nagole stretch), the Metro enjoys ridership of more than one lakh per day and with operationalisation of Ameerpet-L B Nagar route, he expressed the hope it would more than double from the current ridership.

Later, the Governor got off the Metro at Khairatabad Metro station and commuted to Raj Bhavan by a 'smart bicycle.'