HYDERABAD: The recent approval by the Railway Board to temporarily shift five train services from Secunderabad Station to the newly developed Cherlapally Railway Terminal has brought passengers’ concern over connectivity to the forefront.
In addition to its decision to run the East Coast Express from Cherlapally instead of Hyderabad, starting June 15, the South Central Railway (SCR) has also planned to divert 13 trains via Cherlapally instead of Secunderabad and to designate Cherlapally as the terminal station for two other trains. Most of these changes are set to take effect by the end of April.
Cherlapally Railway Station, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 6, was developed at an estimated cost of Rs 413 crore to international standards. The terminal was envisioned to help decongest the city’s three major stations—Secunderabad, Hyderabad and Kacheguda.
However, passengers have voiced concerns about the lack of adequate connectivity, especially given the station’s location on the outskirts of the city. Despite efforts by the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGRTC) to provide bus connectivity, commuters say reaching Cherlapally from various parts of Hyderabad remains a challenge.
TSRTC currently operates around 146 bus services daily from different city points to the Cherlapally terminal. Speaking to TNIE, Chengicherla depot manager Kavitha said that 250C bus service runs every 10 minutes from the north side (platform 1) of the station to Secunderabad, covering areas such as Habsiguda, Nacharam, Tarnaka and Mallapur. The first bus departs Cherlapally at 4:20 am and the last bus leaves at 10:05 pm.
She added that 12 bus services (113F/Z) connect the south side (platform 9) of the station to Borabanda via Uppal, Ramanthapur, Narayanguda and Punjagutta, with a frequency of 30 minutes.
Still, the absence of nearby metro connectivity remains a pain point. The closest metro stations—Habsiguda, NGRI, Tarnaka and Uppal—are all located over 10 kilometres away, forcing passengers to rely on cabs or additional public transport to bridge the gap.
Adding to the challenge is the lack of adequate Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) services. Currently, only two MMTS trains to Lingampally (at 7:42 am and 7:57 pm) and two to Ghatkesar (at 7:14 pm and 10:09 pm) operate from Cherlapally, which passengers say falls far short of demand.
George Benciker, an employee at Deloitte, said, “Due to a language barrier, I had difficulty communicating with the public to find a bus to Cherlapally railway station. With no other option, I took the Metro from Somajiguda to Secunderabad and from there, I travelled to Cherlapally station via MMTS. If I had arrived even a minute later, I would have missed my train to Chennai.”
Passengers are urging both the Railways and TGRTC to improve last-mile connectivity. Many have called for an increase in MMTS services and better bus frequency to accommodate the rising number of commuters expected to use the terminal in the coming months.
SCR gets new principal financial advisor
Hyderabad: T Hema Suneetha of the 1993 batch of IRAS (Indian Railways Accounts Service) took charge as the Principal Financial Advisor of South Central Railway (SCR) on Tuesday. Before assuming charge, she worked as Financial Advisor & Chief Accounts Officer/Traffic & Capex Management, SCR. During her tenure in Southern Railway spanning over two decades, she worked in various capacities. She was associated with the prestigious Vande Bharat project as Financial Advisor & Chief Accounts Officer (Projects) in Integral Coach Factory/Perambur.