Hyderabad Metro Rail’s Corridor I, Connecting the High-growth Suburbs of Hyderabad

Hyderabad Metro Rail is an ambitious international infrastructure project conceived to change the destiny of Hyderabad city. The city, with a proud Nawabi heritage and as an icon of services industry in India has a cosmopolitan outlook that has attracted people and businesses from all over the country for decades.

However, the public transport and infrastructure hasn’t kept pace with the geographical expansion of the city and the population explosion, that has been witnessed during the last twenty to thirty years. It is this need for a modern transport solution, which has necessitated the conception of Hyderabad Metro Rail. The project envisages three corridors, namely LB Nagar-Miyapur, JBS-Falaknuma and Nagole-Shilparamam.

The Corridor I, LB Nagar-Miyapur spanning a distance of approximately 29 km connects the South Eastern Suburb of LB Nagar with the North Western Suburb of Miyapur.  From a nondescript rural hamlet fifteen years ago, Miyapur has emerged as the core point from where the next phase of growth is being envisioned. Situated along the key national highway connecting Hyderabad with Mumbai, Miyapur is today an emerging residential hub and also a hub of public transport towards one corner of Hyderabad.

LB Nagar, abutting the Vijayawada highway has witnessed a spurt of residential colonies and also theme parks and resorts that are located within a distance of 10-15 minutes, for the purpose of entertainment. It also houses the world famous Ramoji Film City. With Telangana government’s plans to develop one more world-class Film city and International Pharma park at Rachakonda, situated approximately 25-35 km from L.B. Nagar, the Corridor I, of Hyderabad Metro Rail is poised to emerge as the lifeline of development in Hyderabad.

The corridor with a total of 27 Stations  criss-crosses the important hubs of Metro rail starting from Miyapur, followed by JNTU College, KPHB Colony, Kukatpally, Balanagar , Moosapet , Bharat Nagar, Erragadda , ESI Hospital, S R Nagar, Ameerpet, Punjagutta, Irrum Manzil, Khairatabad, Lakdikapul, Assembly, Nampally, Gandhi Bhavan, Osmania Medical College, MG Bus station, Malakpet, New Market, Musarambagh, Dilsukhnagar, Chaitanyapuri, Victoria Memorial and L B Nagar.

As a direct link that connects Miyapur to LB Nagar in 45 minutes compared to the road travel time of one hour 45 minutes, one can travel across the city from Mumbai highway to Vijayawada highway through some of the bustling junctions, which are hubs for education, residence, businesses and multinational companies. In short, Corridor I of Hyderabad Metro Rail connects the entrepreneurial spirit and the future of Hyderabad.

Nagole-Shilparamam (Corridor III), a transformational corridor of Hyderabad Metro Rail

Hyderabad Metro Rail is a mass rapid transit system, implemented entirely on PPP (Public- Private Partnership) mode. Hyderabad Metro Rail is considered the largest PPP project ever undertaken for a metro rail in the world with a total investment of Rs 14,132 crore, for a length of approximately 72 km.

The project is expected to provide a fillip to the growth story of Hyderabad, an emerging global city with a strong reputation as a hub of Pharma, IT and other service industries. The Metro Rail covering 72 km in Hyderabad, comprises of three corridors. These are Jubilee Bus Station-Falaknuma (Corridor II), Miyapur-LB Nagar (Corridor I) and Nagole-Shilparamam (Corridor III). The Nagole-Mettuguda section of Nagole-Shilparamam corridor is the first line that would be thrown open to the public after extensive trial runs, in the year 2015. The entire corridor stretching from Nagole to Shilparamam for a total of 27.5 km crisscrosses some of the dense traffic corridors of Hyderabad city.  Also called as Blue Line, Nagole, Shilparamam corridor consists of 23 stations, approximately one for every one kilometer. The stations of this corridor are Nagole, Uppal, Survey of India, NGRI, Habsiguda, Tarnaka, Mettuguda, Secunderabad, Parade Ground, Paradise, Rasoolpura, Prakash Nagar, Begumpet, Ameerpet, Madhura Nagar, Yousufguda, Jubilee Hills Road, and Jubilee Hills Check post, Peddamma Temple, Madhapur PS, Durgam Cheruvu, Hitech City and Cyber Gateway. The corridor also has two interchange stations connecting other corridors. Ameerpet station connects corridors 3 and 1 while Parade Grounds station connects corridors 3 and 2.

The noteworthy feature of this corridor is that it connects the predominantly residential suburbs of Hyderabad’s Eastern plank, with the high growth business district, also called Cyberabad. Currently, thousands of commuters travel across the route, which takes more than one and a half hour on an average for the commute due to traffic hassles.  Once Metro becomes operational, the travel time is expected to be reduced considerably, which would only be slightly more than 30 minutes. Tremendous saving of time, costs and a pleasurable ride in modern coaches of Hyderabad Metro Rail that are fully air conditioned and reliable, truly Hyderabad Metro Rail is a boon that is all set to transform the way one travels in Hyderabad city.

The corridor traverses through the railway and business hubs of Secunderabad and the educational hub of Ameerpet and also the up-market areas of Yousufguda and Jubilee hills. The corridor, even in its current construction phase is evoking much interest and witnessing the prospects of high development in future, thereby creating growth zones all along the route. Nagole-Shilparamam corridor is a significant growth corridor, boosting the image of Brand Hyderabad.

Hyderabad Metro Rail, Transforming Connectivity for a Global City

Connectivity is one term that defines how public transportation system plays an important role in modern societies. A society is considered truly developed, when there is an excellent connectivity in terms of transport to various quarters of the city.

The transport should be modern and in a world where pollution and global warming due to fossil fuel consumption are key concerns, it is important that the connectivity provided should also be environment friendly.

Hyderabad Metro Rail is one unique project that ensures rapid connectivity across three corridors of Hyderabad in the first phase, namely Nagole-Shilparamam, LB Nagar-Miyapur and Falaknuma-Jubilee Bus Station.  The project envisages one station for approximately every one kilometer with all the amenities for the commuters. The Metro rail covering 71 km of Hyderabad is one such modern connectivity system, where the development picks up across not only the length and breadth of these corridors, but also results in fair development of various corners of the city.

Hyderabad Metro rail is all set to transform the skyline of Hyderabad. The project brings a new global dimension to Nawabi Hyderabad. By ensuring connectivity between different corners of the city, the Metro project is a harbinger of sustainable development with a concept called Transit oriented development.

From each metro ration, there is a provision of feeder buses for internal connectivity within the colonies of a particular region that lies 1-2 km interior from the Metro station. Metro rail project ensures connectivity between the residential zones of the city and the business districts.

The Metro rail project also provides connectivity to key bus terminuses, railway stations, MMTS stations and other important areas of the city considered hub for business, government offices, private enterprises, educational institutes, and recreational places among others.

Hyderabad Metro rail is a one-of-its-kind project in India that is all set to revolutionize the concept of connectivity. Once the project is operational, gone are the days of poor connectivity where even to cover a distance of few kilometers, one has to face a harrowing time with traffic jams at every corner. 

Seamless travel that is environment-friendly, world-class, efficient and highly convenient; in short Hyderabad Metro rail is the future of Hyderabad’s growth prospects and is nothing short of a hallmark for the city’s growth story, creating more jobs, development and ensuring best connectivity.

Hyderabad Metro Rail, Redesigning Hyderabad's Image

Hyderabad Metro Rail project is a one-of-its-kind mass rapid transport system which is all set to usher a new phase of growth for the city of Hyderabad. The project would be showcasing its potential as an investment destination with a world-class public transport system.

At the same time, the metro rail is also an opportunity to redesign the city of Hyderabad and its ethos as a people-friendly as well as an environment-friendly global city.

The project has been conceived to meet the challenges of rapid urbanisation of a densely populated city like Hyderabad and also manage the traffic and transportation issues of the city given the complex task of traffic management in Indian cities.  The project entails establishing inter-modal connectivity between different transport systems like Metro, main rail, feeder buses and establishment of exclusive spaces for bicycle stations and other non-motorized eco-friendly transport at Metro stations. It also envisages building of skywalks and other important pedestrian facilities, which would make Metro user friendly.

Following the operationalization of this integrated Metro Rail project and emphasis placed on densification of the major transportation corridors by means of transit-oriented development (TOD), the project would also result in comprehensive development of walkable neighborhoods. It also boosts the development of latest urban planning practices, which can make Hyderabad a better livable and a truly globally competitive city.

In this regard, the newly created industry-friendly policy of Telangana government would boost and infact complement the progress of Metro by attracting huge investments from all over the world. With better mobility required for new industrial corridors that would be created for the IT, biotechnology, and other sectors like defence and aerospace sectors in Hyderabad and also the proposed growth corridor along ORR,  Hyderabad Metro Rail is uniquely positioned to script a new success story of how a Metro can oversee the perfect transformation of a highly populated city into a dynamic growth hub.

In this regard, Hyderabad Metro Rail’s new thrust towards rapid construction of the project with active co-operation from the government of Telangana would create the right spurt for various development activities, with the metro rail forming the fulcrum of Hyderabad’s next phase of development.