Government plans tram or BRTS for Hyderabad: KTR

Hyderabad: If the Government has its way, the city may soon get either tram services like in Kolkata or elevated bus rapid transport system (BRTS) and it is likely to be experimented between JNTU and HITEC City.

Stating this during Question Hour, Minister for Municipal Administration K T Rama Rao said that the government was committed in providing better transport facilities to citizens. For this purpose, the government has proposed to allocate Rs 10,000 crore for urban agglomeration and top priority would be given to transportation.

A tram, it may be mentioned, is a rail vehicle that runs on tramway tracks along city roads. But it remains to be seen whether the roads in city which are already bursting at seams can have tramways or not. The government would soon take up a study to examine as to what extent the city roads would be suitable for such services.

The BRTS also called a Busway or Transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to speed up the travelling time. The elevated BRTS would mean there will be an elevated road exclusively for buses. The best BRTS system is in Gujarat and has been functioning successfully. In Gujarat, the busway includes roadways that are dedicated to buses and gives priority to buses at intersections where buses may have to interact with other traffic. The bus ways are so designed that it reduces delays caused by passengers boarding or leaving the buses or purchasing tickets. It combines the speed of Metro with flexibility, low cost and simplicity of a bus system.