Hyderabad Metro a saviour to people from scorching sun

Hyderabad: Amid rise in temperatures and sweltering heat this summer, most of the city dwellers are preferring to travel through metro to reach their destinations. Heavy rush is being witnessed in several metro stations during peak hours. According to the Hyderabad Metro officials, crowd in metro during peak hours is a common phenomenon across all the metro networks in India and other countries.

High passenger density is particularly prevalent during the morning peak hour (about 1 hour) on the C3 corridor in the up direction, as the majority of IT offices are located around Raidurg. However, the passenger density is still within the design limits. Currently, the total ridership is around 4.50 lakh average per day across the network of 56 stations. Raidurg station and Ameerpet have the highest footfall across the network on most days, followed by Nagole and LB Nagar.

Meanwhile passengers stated that most of them prefer travelling in the metro as it is more comfortable than other mode of public transport. Few passengers rue that the rush in few stations especially Ameerpet becomes unmanageable sometimes and it would be better if metro officials increase the frequency of the train and attach few more coaches.

"I prefer to travel in metro, as we can reach our destinations in about an hour by protecting ourselves from the scorching sun," said Anil, a dailypassengers.

"Metro station is extremely crowded during the peak hours in the morning and evening. We also hardly get place to stand in the train. Though there is heavy rush, I still opt to travel in metro, as the journey is more feasible," said another passenger.

To improve passenger experience, short loop trains have been introduced at Ameerpet, Secunderabad, and Mettuguda Metro Stations as per requirement. These empty trains are effectively helping to clear the crowd. The headway between trains on the C1 corridor has been reduced from 7 minutes to 4 minutes and 30 seconds during mid-day non-peak hours (between 11 am to 5 pm). On the C3 corridor, the headway is also under review. In addition, additional security personnel, including lady guards are being deployed to regulate and manage the crowd, said a senior officer, Hyderabad Metro.