Hyderabad Metro Expands with Airport Metro Express Phase

In a significant development nearly six years after the initiation of the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR), the twin cities are poised to witness the commencement of the next phase of construction. The bidding process for the Airport Metro Express, connecting Raidurg to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, is nearing finalization. This phase encompasses a 31-kilometer project, involving an elevated, on-ground, and underground section, with an estimated cost of Rs 62.50 billion. It took five years for the Telangana government to initiate the second phase, despite approving the proposal as early as 2018. Budget allocations were announced, and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation prepared a detailed project report, but progress remained stagnant. The foundation stone for the project was finally laid by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in December of the previous year. Interestingly, unlike other metro rail projects in the country, the Airport Metro Express will be fully funded by the government under the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) mode. This decision was made after the project failed to attract any bidders from infrastructure firms, despite offering more favorable terms than those provided to L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) for the first phase in 2010. Officials highlight that in the first phase, the Central government contributed only 10 per cent of the Viability Gap Funding, amounting to Rs 14.58 billion, of which Rs 2.54 billion remains outstanding. The metro project, developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, was financed by a consortium of public sector banks led by the State Bank of India, which provided a loan of approximately Rs 110 billion, making it the only project of its kind in the country. L&TMRH and HMR faced challenges due to the separate Telangana agitation, necessitating realignment whenever certain areas, such as Osmania University and Koti Women's College (now University), were inaccessible. In these cases, the piers had to be constructed along the main road instead of within the campus. Following the creation of Telangana, fresh demands arose to alter the alignment at Sultan Bazar, Legislative Assembly, and the Old City. After extensive discussions and considering the cost escalation, the original alignment was retained, but the Old City line from MGBS to Falaknuma remains inactive. Just as the ridership was reaching 500,000 passengers, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a shutdown for five months. Additionally, delays in obtaining permissions and a significant reduction in projected ridership resulted in a loss of approximately Rs 17.46 billion, as reported by L&TMRH. Initially, L&TMRH sought a compensation of Rs 30 billion, but the outcome of a high-powered committee led by the then Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, assigned to address the demand, remains undisclosed. Similar secrecy shrouds the fate of a fare revision committee report, with select unofficial leaks suggesting the government's reluctance to accept any fare hikes. The government aims to increase the number of trains operated by L&TMRH and expand each train's capacity from three to six coaches to accommodate peak-hour demand. The concessionaire asserts that during peak hours, all 55 out of 57 train sets are in service, making it unfeasible to operate six-coach trains solely during rush hours. L&TMRH is yet to order new train sets, a process that may take around a year for delivery. Furthermore, they have threatened to sell off their stake to offset the losses, a move the government claims cannot be executed without its consent. Commuters continue to express dissatisfaction regarding the lack of seamless first and last mile connectivity and cleanliness at the stations. This depicts the current state of the world.