Five out of the eight stations in the Ameerpet to Hitec City stretch of the Hyderabad metro will begin operations on Wednesday, the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) announced on Tuesday. The stretch will be inaugurated by the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor ESL Narasimhan in a low-key affair with no politicians, keeping in view the Model Code of Conduct which is in place due to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Of the eight stations along the stretch, Jubilee Hills Check-post, Peddamma temple and Madhapur stations will not be open for the public. “The stations will be opened after a few weeks,” said NVS Reddy, Managing Director, HMRL, who attributed the delay to work being undertaken at these stations.
The blue line comes under phase 3 of the Hyderabad Metro, comprising a total of eight stations in the 10 km stretch - Taruni-Madhura Nagar, Yousufguda, Jubilee Hills Road No 5, Jubilee Hills Check-post, Peddamma temple, Madhapur, Durgam Cheruvu and Hitec City. This 28-km blue line extends from Nagole to Raidurgam. The Raidurgam station is still under construction.
HMRL will also develop the Taruni-Madhura Nagar station as a woman-managed station with shops catering to the needs of women and children.
The frequency of trains on the Ameerpet to Hitec City route will be 9-12 minutes as opposed to the 6-minute frequency in other parts of the metro corridor. The stretch of the metro line will also face speed restrictions initially as it sits on an undulating terrain and has many sharp curves.
L&T Metro, which is building the Hyderabad Metro, is also constructing a reverse facility for the trains beyond the Hitec City station in front of Cyber Towers and Trident Hotel. The work is being done in a staggered and sequential manner as the passage is narrow and wedged between Cyber Towers on one side and the flyover on the other. HMRL expects the work to be completed in a couple of months.