Hyderabad Metro Phase II: Officials brainstorm design for Chandrayangutta to Airport

Hyderabad: The design of Hyderabad Metro Rail Phase II and its half-a-kilometre extension at Chandrayangutta was deliberated by engineers of Hyderabad Metro Rail on Sunday.

Managing Director NVS Reddy along with chief electrical engineer DVS Raju, chief signal and telecom engineer SK Das, chief project manager B Anand Mohan, general managers M Vishnuvardhan Reddy and BN Rajeshwar and experts from the consultancy firm participated in the brainstorming session.

Design deliberation

The main issue under deliberation was regarding choosing a ‘through line’ and a spur line between the two metro routes: the Nagole–LB Nagar–Mailardevpally–Shamshabad Airport stretch and the Nagole–LB Nagar–Mailardevpally–New High Court near Agricultural University route.

As per the plan, Chandrayangutta will be developed into an interchange station for the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport connectivity to Old City. The extension will be about half a kilometre to Chandrayangutta from the Nagole–LB Nagar–Mailardevpally–Airport line.

The officials discussed the complexities and possible technical solutions in the creation of train reversal and stabling lines at Chandrayangutta given the narrow road and the flyover there.

Train control systems

Engineering experts deliberated on the pros and cons of adopting the same signalling and train control system and coaches of Phase-I versus the adoption of other signalling technologies and coaches, which are now available in India.

The experts supplying coaches for metro rail and other aspects of technology were also discussed in detail.

Cost reduction

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has asked the metro rail officials to keep costs in mind, regarding which the feasibility of laying ‘At grade’ (at street level) metro from Mailardevpally to the Airport road was deliberated.

The best practices of various metros in the country were also being taken into account. Metro Rail will also look into the lessons from Phase I of Hyderabad Metro Rail to understand passenger facilities and maximise ridership. Priority for the Airport metro will be focussing on adequate parking facilities, last mile connectivity, pedestrian facilities, and space for luggage among other aspects.