With the launch of another 11-km stretch on Friday, Hyderabad Metro Rail has become the second largest metro rail network in the country after Delhi.
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao flagged off of the metro train on Green Line stretch from Jubliee Bus Station (JBS) to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS), connecting the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
The opening of metro service on this stretch will facilitate movement of commuters between two largest and busiest Road Transport Corporation (RTC) bus stations in Telangana. It passes through several important landmarks like Parade Grounds, Musheerabad, RTC Cross Roads and Sultan Bazar.
Hyderabad Metro Rail, the world’s largest public-private partnership project, is now the second largest operational metro network in the country covering 69.2 kms, the officials said.
After inaugurating the stretch, the Chief Minister along with some of his cabinet colleagues and senior officials travelled from JBS to Chikkadpally.
The JBS-MGBS stretch is part of Corridor II JBS-Falaknuma (14.78 km). The work on the stretch from MGBS on Musi river to Falaknuma, the famous palace in the old city, is yet to start.
The stretch, which has nine metro stations, is expected to reduce travel time to just 16 minutes from one end to the other, as against 45 minutes by road.
MGBS inter-change station, which is said to be the largest metro station in the country, connects the Green Line to Red Line or corridor I from L. B. Nagar to Miyapur (29 km). At JBS, Green Line is connected to Blue Line or corridor III from Nagole to Raidurg (29 km).
It was on November 28, 2017 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated first section Miyapur-Ameerpet-Nagole. In 2018, second section Ameerpet-L.B. Nagar was opened. Third section Ameerpet-Hitec City (10 km) was thrown open on March 20, 2019. Another 1.5 km stretch from Hitec City to Raidurg was commissioned in November last year.
Hyderabad Metro is already carrying more than four lakh passengers with 780 trips every day.
Barring MGBS-Falaknuma, the entire project has now been completed. The 73-km elevated metro is the biggest metro project in the world in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode at a total cost of Rs 20,000 crore.
“The iconic Hyderabad Metro Rail project ranks among one of most prestigious projects that we have executed,” said S.N. Subrahmanyan, CEO and Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro.
He hoped that this would go a long way to transform Hyderabad into a more modern and commuter-friendly city.
“L&T is proud to have created a best-in-class, eco-friendly urban mobility system for the people of Hyderabad to global benchmarks to enhance commuter safety and comfort and reduce travel time,” said K.V.B. Reddy, MD and CEO, L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd.
He described it an engineering marvel. L&T utilised cutting edge technologies like Communication Based Train Controls (CBTC), and Regenerative Rolling Stocks for the project.
Also Read: Data Story: All The Metro Projects That Are Operational, Under Construction, Approved, And More