The Green Metro Line blues

The picture cannot be more contrasting. Travelling in the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) Green Line or Corridor Two from Jubilee Bus Station (JBS), Secunderabad, to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS), Imlibun, with 10 stations for about 11 km, is like a picnic with enough space inside the three coach trains even during the peak hours. In comparison, Red Line (Corridor One) running between Miyapur and LB Nagar runs full while the Blue Line (Corridor Three) between Nagole and Raidurg is also packed to capacity with the metro rail authorities struggling to deal with the peak hours rush in the morning and nights even with increased frequency of short distance trips from Mettuguda towards Raidurg.

The picture cannot be more contrasting. Travelling in the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) Green Line or Corridor Two from Jubilee Bus Station (JBS), Secunderabad, to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS), Imlibun, with 10 stations for about 11 km, is like a picnic with enough space inside the three coach trains even during the peak hours.

In comparison, Red Line (Corridor One) running between Miyapur and LB Nagar runs full while the Blue Line (Corridor Three) between Nagole and Raidurg is also packed to capacity with the metro rail authorities struggling to deal with the peak hours rush in the morning and nights even with increased frequency of short distance trips from Mettuguda towards Raidurg.

It shows up in the passenger count. If the Red Line has a daily ridership of about 2.50 lakh passengers, Blue Line has a ridership of about 2.18 lakh, whereas, on the Green Line, it is about 25,000 only even when it traverses through some of the busiest thoroughfares of the twin cities snaking through the dense residential colonies, educational institutions, movie theatres, markets, hospitals and so on.

So, why is this poor patronage when the other two lines are bursting at their seams? Opinions vary - there are passengers regularly travelling on the metro line, pointing out the time lag between two trains defeating the very purpose of running the metro service of providing quick public transport and maintaining punctuality.

“I entered the MGBS metro station from the bus complex making an overnight journey but realised there was no train for more than 20 minutes. I quickly took a local RTC bus to reach Tarnaka directly. If I took the metro, I would have to get down at the Parade Grounds station and catch the connecting Blue Line, which would have taken a lot more time,” says Krishna, another regular passenger.

There are those who, like Plus Two student Dhruv K, travels from Raidurg to Parade Grounds on the Blue Line and then take the Green Line from JBS to Chikkadpally at the cross-over station to attend his classes every day at a coaching institute. He is forced to factor in the less number of services when he hops into the Green Line in the morning and, on return, in the evening during his hectic academic schedule. “Otherwise, it’s very convenient,” he says.

“We should consider this route is well serviced by RTC buses. The metro service in this region sure has made a lot of difference to us because of the air-conditioned travel, faster service and connectivity to new growth regions like Miyapur, Raidurg, Nagole and others. But, unless metro trains are run on schedule with a good frequency - whether packed to capacity or not, how will people shift from the roads,” asks Dr. Srikanth, a regular rider.