Hyderabad Metro, India

The Hyderabad Metro is a proposed rapid transit system for the city of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. The project, owned by Hyderabad Metro Rail, was proposed in order to meet the growing transport needs of Hyderabad’s increasing population, which is expected to increase from 7.8 million to 13.64 million by 2021.

The city covers the municipal corporation and metropolitan areas of the region. The municipal corporation area is about 625km² while the metropolitan area covers 6,852km².

Buses are the major public transportation system in Hyderabad and are operated by the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation, which runs a fleet of more than 19,000.

Hyderabad also has a light rail transportation service, the Multi-Modal Transport System. Journeys by public transport are estimated to be 42% of all motorised trips made per day.

Finance

The estimated cost of the Hyderabad Metro project is $2.62bn. About 20% of the estimated project cost was provided under the government’s viability gap funding scheme. The Federal and State Governments will provide financial support for 40% of the project cost.

Phases

In April 2008 the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) approved Phase I of the project based on traffic and transportation reports generated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The DMRC's reports were based on studies made of the geophysical features of the routes and on international best practices and economics.

Phase I will include three lines spanning 71.16km. The lines will belong to three high-density traffic corridors.

In July 2008 the GoAP awarded a bid to a consortium led by Maytas Metro, including the firms Maytas Infra, Navabharat Ventures, Ital Thai of Thailand and IL&FS. The consortium was awarded the bid for executing the project under a design, build, finance, operate and transfer basis for 35 years.

However, in July 2009 the GoAP decided to cancel the contract and invited Request for Qualification bids. Applications for the bidding process had to be submitted by 14 December 2009. The announcement of the shortlisted bidders and sale of bid documents was made on 31 December 2009. The bids will be opened on 18 March 2010.

Line routes

The Hyderabad Metro will have three corridors/lines. Corridor-1/Line 1 will be 29.87km long and will connect 27 stations on a stretch between the south-east region of the city and the north-west. Corridor-2/Line 2 is planned to be an east-west line and will be 14.78km long, connecting 16 stations. Corridor-3 will be a north-south line that will be 26.51km long, connecting 23 stations.

The first line of the system will connect Miyapur and LB Nagar, the second line will connect Secunderabad to Falaknuma and the third line will connect Nagole and Shilparamam.

All three lines will interconnect at common stations. Lines 1 and 3 will interconnect at Ameerpet while lines 1 and 2 will meet at the Medical College. Lines 2 and 3 will interconnect at the Parade Grounds. All of the stations will be separated by an average distance of 1km.

Infrastructure

The Hyderabad Metro will be an elevated system with a 9m-wide bridge structure. The bridge will run from the central median of the road.

The tracks will be 1,435mm standard gauge. The system's electrical traction will be of DC 750V and power will be supplied through the third rail.

The locomotives will be air-conditioned and will include automatic doors and other safety features.

The system will also have a mini-bus service. The buses will be air-conditioned and will connect nearby lanes, businesses and other popular destinations.

Systems including smart card-based automatic ticketing and gate systems are planned to be incorporated.

Signalling and communications

Signalling systems including Automatic Train Control, Automatic Train Protection and Automatic Train Operation will be included.

As part of the Concession Agreement, the automatic systems have to be constructed, operated, maintained and transferred at the end of the concession period.