L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd, the concessionaire of Hyderabad Metro, said it would commission the first phase of the project — Nagole to Mettuguda — in about three years. “We are supposed to complete the project in five years. But currently, we are thinking of commissioning it phase by phase. However, now our endeavour will be to complete the first phase, which we have taken up between Nagole and Mettuguda, in about three years,” Mr V.B. Gadgil, the chief executive and managing director of L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad), said on Tuesday.
The Nagole to Mettuguda stretch is a part of the Uppal to Shilparamam route. The other two routes are LB Nagar to Miyapur and Falaknuma to Jubilee Bus Depot. Mr Gadgil said that the project, which is one of the world’s largest PPP projects in the Metro Rail space, would draw inspiration from Hong Kong and Paris Metro Rail systems. “The coaches to be used in Hyderabad Metro would be better than the Delhi Metro,” he said. Dismissing the concerns that the speed of the Metro Rail would be limited as it was being implemented under the Tramways Act, Mr Gadgil said there were some provisions which allowed the government to implement the Metro Rail.
“The Metro Rail would have a maximum speed of 80 km an hour. But since it stops at all 65 stations, it would achieve an average speed of 38 to 40 km a hour,” he said. Though Mr Gadgil did not have much to offer on traffic problems due to the Metro work, he said L&T Metro’s traffic marshals would guide people on alternative routes.
