In a bid to ease traffic woes on the IT corridor in Hyderabad, the Telangana government is reportedly planning to introduce a Light Rail Transit System (LRTS) from Kukatpally Housing Board (KPHB) to Narsingi. According to a report in The New Indian Express, the move is expected to benefit passengers travelling from KPHB to Kokapet besides HITEC City and Financial District and will have about 24 stations. It also stated that the Elevated Bus Rapid Transit System (EBRTS) which was proposed earlier, has been shelved temporarily.
The detailed project report (DPR) will be prepared by the Hyderabad Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (HUMTA), and is expected to be submitted by November, the report added, stating that it might be integrated with several metro stations, to improve connectivity across Hyderabad.
The Hyderabad Metro, which began operations in November 2017 presently has three corridors — Nagole to Raidurg, Miyapur to LB Nagar and Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) via Parade Grounds. While the original plan of one the JBS corridor was to extend the metro till Falaknuma, acquisition of land posed a big challenge.
The city also has a Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) which covers several parts of the city, with one line between Lingampally and Falaknuma, and another line from Hyderabad to Lingampally. Work for phase-2 of the MMTS is also underway, which attempts to cover parts of Secunderabad, including areas like Moul Ali, Ghatkesar, Secunderabad station and Medchal. It also plans to cover areas like Tellapur, Ramachandrapuram, Sanathnagar, Fakalnuma and Umdanagar. As of early this year, the project, which is being undertaken with Union government and state government funds, was awaiting the release of further grants after being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.