HYDERABAD: As the much awaited Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) threw open its 30-km stretch connecting Nagole and Miyapur at two ends of the city on Wednesday morning, TNIE reporters Rajitha S and Ajay Moses took the first ride at 6 am, from Nagole and Miyapur respectively, along with enthusiastic denizens to capture the public mood and observe the completeness of works that were taken up in a war footing. Here is what they found.
Curious Hyderabadis rush to experience Hyderabad Metro
At 6 am on Wednesday, in the middle of the week, one would assume people to be getting ready for work and rushing about with their daily chores. Surprisingly, a lot of them stepped out to experience the first ride on the Hyderabad Metro Rail. While a majority of them were in for a joyride, there were a few who boarded to reach their workplace.
Mahesh, whose work involves laying of borewells in Kukatpally, took the train from Nagole with a bag of vegetables and rode till Ameerpet. However, he was not very excited. "There is nothing very fascinating about the train ride. The ticket fare is a little high too," he said. He waited for a changeover to reach Kukatpally. Mahesh, however, does not fall in the majority who were not just excited but also risked to try the ride and reach their morning destination.
Vinod Jadhav, a father of two daughters, took the Metro without fearing that the kids might be late to school. Though they travelled from Tarnaka to Habsiguda — two subsequent stations — the three of them felt that it is quite reliable. A retired employee boarded the first train from Nagole to Secunderabad, picked his wife who was arriving from Vizag at the station and took a train back. "It is an amazing experience," said K Satyanarayana. His wife, K Sreedevi too was all smiles.
Many glitches:
Slight delays
The first train which was supposed to start at 6 am from Nagole was delayed and started only at 6.15 am. The ticket vendors and station managers were quite overwhelmed with the number of people. As the issuing of tickets was delayed, some people missed the first train. However, ticket vendors managed it smoothly for the second ride which started at 6.30 am and reached Ameerpet by 7.12 am.
Unclear announcements
Announcements made in the trains, in English and Hindi, were neither clear nor audible unless one stands right under the speakers. Seats are limited, which means, most of the passengers have to take the ride standing. No passenger paid heed to warnings which asked them to refrain from taking pictures.
Insufficient parking space for future
Considering the number of passengers who took the train in the first half of the first day, parking spots at various stations might be insufficient as the footfall is only likely to increase in the coming days. Most of the stations through the stretch are yet to be completed. Most part of the work in Ameerpet station which is the interchange station is incomplete. One of the employees sadly confessed, "We aren't allowing people to click pictures in this station as it is not completely finished. It hardly takes time for negative publicity to spread. It is only because of pressure from the government that we had to open it. Otherwise, this station would take another five months to be fully ready."
Token valid for 120 minutes
Those going towards Miyapur from Nagole need to change over. The token which works as the ticket is valid for a total of 120 minutes from the time of purchase. Smart card users can move at their will. The staff is friendly and guides passengers in need of help.
Washrooms, a major hassle
Paid and unpaid areas have been marked in the stations and there are no toilets in the paid areas. So once a passenger purchases a ticket and enters into the paid area, which includes the route to the platform, they have to wait till they reach the destination in order to relieve themselves. In case one needs to use a washroom after purchasing the ticket, they have to drop the token back, making it invalid for use.
Experience only limited to commuting, as of now
Starting from the frequent jamming of the automatic gates placed at the entry and exit points to the speech over the text of the second language of Telangana, Urdu, not automated inside the metro cars, the HMR experience is right now limited to only commuting.
While the chief minister in the recently concluded Assembly session announced the officiating of the Urdu language as Telangana's second official language, besides signages, there is no automated spoken instructions or announcements in Urdu.
Varying halt spans
If you are traveling from Bharath Nagar Metro station towards Miyapur, the metro stops for 17 seconds at each station. On the other hand, it was observed that the metro towards Ameerpet after crossing Bharath Nagar had varying halt spans. At some stations, the doors closed in 10 seconds whereas at some, in 40 seconds.
"I got into the car at the last second and the door closed the moment I stepped in. What would have happened, if I got delayed by a fraction of a second?" asked A Bikku, a student who boarded the car in Begumpet. There would always be those who are in a hurry to board the car at the last minute and for them, it's a suicide, he added.
Unfinished work
At the Miyapur station, where a VVIP delegation that included the Nation and State heads inaugurating the Miyapur Metro Station, a major part of work remains unfinished. Besides the way to the Metro station, the parking space, seating shelter, and footpath outside the Miyapur depot still awaits completion.
The ticket vending machines (TVM) and automatic gate systems are not fully functional at several stations. For instance, at Prakash Nagar, the automatic gates to exit from the station frequently suffer from jamming and the crew on the concessionaire is sure to guide to other exit gates.
The same is the case with the TVM as not all are updated. "We have the technical update of the software but the TVM will remain non-operational for at least three days," said a Station In charge at Bharath Nagar Metro Station.