Mobility and Metro Rail, Hand-in-Hand

Increasing consumption of fuel, the resulting pollution and inefficient spread of urban regions due to incessant expansion of private motorized transport make some of the compelling reasons for prioritization of public transport in one of the rapidly growing cities of the world like Hyderabad.

Investments in public transport have now become imperative. This fits in tune with the recently announced Metro Railway Policy by India’s Urban Development Ministry that encourages cities having a population of more two million populations towards planning and implementation of high speed metro rail systems which is now seen as a welcome initiative. Since larger cities are expected for accommodating most of the burgeoning urbanizing populations in future, the time has come to plan for long-term growth and mobility.

The metro rail, which takes years of groundwork for planning and implementation, plays a significant role for shaping the future. The successful progress of Hyderabad Metro in a record time has now strengthened the example of how metro can be an important option for urban transportation and the project is now facing aggressive phase of implementation.  The usefulness of a metro rail depends on how this becomes integrated with the functional and spatial planning of a city like Hyderabad. Urban regions witness high development close to the metro rail corridors leveraging the advantage of the high-capacity mass rapid transit system that could compensate for lopsided urban growth. The intense building activity across the main corridors, which can also enhance ridership during peak hours in a peak direction, could usher the metro rail network as an economically sustainable option.

In order for the metro rail to function well, there is a good feeder bus network for mobility, connecting the pedestrian paths including the feature of seamless modal transfer. It is important for expanding transport options, and along with comprehensive development, that accompanies a Metro rail for a city like Hyderabad, mobility within the city could be efficient and convenient.