Ameerpet-Hi-Tec City Metro to chug from today

Hyderabad: The much-delayed Metro link between Ameerpet and Hi-Tec City, the IT hub of Hyderabad is all set to begin from Wednesday. Governor ESL Narasimhan will flag off the train operations. In view of the enforcement of election code in the poll-bound Telangana state, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and his cabinet colleagues will not attend the programme.

The 10-km stretch with nine stations (including Ameerpet) will establish the crucial Metro Rail connectivity to the highly congested IT/ITES service areas of Hi-Tec City, Madhapur, Gachibowli, Jubilee Hills and other areas in the west zone.

Trains will initially run in a 5-km stretch between Jubilee Hills Check Post and Hi-Tec City station following a traditional railway practice of "twin single line method". Initially, the frequency of trains between Ameerpet- Hi-Tec City will be 9 to 12 minutes, as against six minutes frequency in other parts of the operational Metro corridors.

HMRL Managing Director N V S Reddy said unlike other stations which are mainly two-level stations, Jubilee Hills Check Post station (on the Ameerpet and Hi-Tec City stretch) is a single-level station where concourse level is avoided to reduce the already high level of the station due to gradient-related problems. As the entire stretch is traversing an undulated terrain and highly curvaceous road, construction of viaduct and the stations posed several technical challenges, he added.