To the delight and relief of commuters, the suburban Hyderabad Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) resumed operations on Wednesday, June 23, after being shut for 15 months due to COVID-19. The coaches were sanitised before operations resumed. The MMTS covers several parts of the city (between Lingampally to Falaknuma, and Hyderabad to Lingampally). It was suspended from March 23, 2020, when the nationwide lockdown was imposed.
Speaking to TNM, Karthikesh, a regular commuter and a member of South Central Railway Railfans, said, “We are very excited that the South Central Railway has resumed the MMTS operations. We did not want to miss the first journey after 15 months, so we took a ride from Secunderabad to Lingampally and returned in the same train. We celebrated the event by decorating the train and thanking the officials. The staff are thoroughly sanitising the coaches, so we request the passengers to do their duty of practising COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.”
Harsha, a Chartered Accountant student who was also a regular commuter, said, “I am very relieved that the MMTS operations have resumed.” Harsha, who was forced to travel to his office in Lingampally by bike from Malakpet every day, added, “It is a really long drive from Malakpet to Lingampally. I used to spend four hours of my day traveling. I used to get extremely exhausted because of this. Now that the MMTS operations have resumed, I do not have to worry about the traffic and fuel cost. MMTS travel is very cheap compared to other means of travel; and it will also be good to meet our train-traveling friends.”
To start off with, the MMTS will only operate 10 services— six services between Falaknuma and Lingampally, and four services between Lingampally and Hyderabad. Between Falaknuma and Lingampally, the first train will leave Falaknuma at 7.50 am and reach Lingampally at 9.07 am. The last train on this route will leave Lingampally at 6.05 pm and reach Falaknuma at 7.32 pm. Between Hyderabad and Lingampally, the first train will leave Lingampally at 8.43 am and reach Hyderabad at 9.28 am. The last train on this route will leave Hyderabad at 6.15 pm, and reach Lingampally at 7.05 pm.
Before the pandemic struck, lakhs of people would travel via the MMTS every day, since it was introduced in 2003. Commuters have appealed to the South Central Railway to increase the number of operations so that they will not have to keep relying on buses or private vehicles.