Apprehensions and doubts raised by critics notwithstanding, the Hyderabad Metro Rail is proceeding at a fast pace to become a reality soon.
It is going to be a major achievement for the city of Greater Hyderabad and no body can stop the ongoing project which is going at a brisk pace, HMR managing director NVS Reddy said on the accomplishment made by the HMR in the last one year.
‘’Apart from Metro gurus discouraging the project, several people including experts criticised about the metro rail project stating it is going to be a failure and should be scrapped. Now we are proving the critics wrong as works on three corridors of metro rail are going at a brisk space and the 8-km-long stretch from Nagole to Mettuguda is going to be ready in March 2015. Trial runs on this stretch will start in July next and will continue for six to nine months before getting safety certificate from the railways,” he said.
So far, about Rs 3,150 crore has been spent by L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited and Rs 900 crore by HMR towards land acquisition, road widening, nala improvements, etc.
One of the largest such projects anywhere in the world, HMR will be India’s first to run on the automated Communication Based Train Control System (CBTC) technology, practically a step below the driverless mode. HMR is also country’s first two-track elevated city transit system to be developed under the public-private participation model. The choice of CBTC is for enhanced frequency and safety. Most such technologies can be upgraded to driverless, Reddy said.
CBTC is almost an automatic train operation where trains are controlled from the central control centre and enhanced safety is provided by applying brakes automatically in case of any mistake by the driver. Delhi Metro, which runs on the conventional system, is trying to upgrade to CBTC technology.
Reddy said a significant progress was made on foundation constructions in the last one year and state-of-art machinery was being used for launching segments from the girders.
More hectic activities would be witnessed during 2014 as new rolling stock (coaches) will arrive from South Korea in May 2014 and will be on the elevated tracks from October, construction depots, metro stations will be speeded up, and 267 of the 269 acres of land has been acquired for the project.
The Hyderabad Metro Rail network will cover a total distance of around 72 km across three corridors: Corridor-I from Miyapur to LB Nagar, Corridor-II from Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma and Corridor-III from Nagole to Shilparamam.
Out of the total 2,700 foundations to be laid on the three corridors, 1,116 have been laid covering a distance of 29 km in ten stretches. Completion of foundation work is challenging and will help in executing the project in a hassle-free manner.
Reddy said 974 pillars (26.5 km) had been laid, each 31 metres apart, where precast segments will be laid. Each segment weighs about 35 tonnes. For making precast segments, large casting yards have been developed at Uppal and Qutbullapur since in situ arrangements on the three corridors is not possible due to congested roads. The precast segments are carried at night to the work place to avoid traffic problems during daytime. So far 8,700 precast segments have been constructed and 13 launching girders are being used to fit them.
About 86 percent and 68 percent of works have been completed at Uppal and Miyapur depots.