HMR looks to convert 30% motorists into metro commuters

Even as the decision on realignment of certain routes is yet to be finalised, the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) authorities are planning for the long haul. HMR in association with Lea Associates conducted a comprehensive transportation study on the use of different modes of travel by the people of the city.

The study on ‘model split’ which explains the nature of passengers on the usage of cars, bicycles, aver HMR officials, is helpful in several ways. The data is used in deciding the metro fare, train timings and facilities for passengers. According to the study, two-wheelers cater to 30 per cent of passengers and occupy 61 per cent space.

Autos cater to 16 per cent of passengers and occupy 21 per cent of space. 10 per cent of passengers use cars and occupy 15 per cent of space. Bus and MMTS cater to 44 per cent of passengers and occupy 3 per cent of space. HMR chief engineer Mohd Ziauddin said, “The study was essential not only from a commercial point of view but to understand the socio-economic factors.

The Metro Rail will change the lifestyle of people.”

Trains in the three corridors will originate from the first station but will be terminated mid-way and return to the originating station to cater to the core passengers. A senior official of HMR said, “In major metros in the world, there is a major chunk of passengers who travel from point A to B during morning time and when they return home.

There is no point in the train going all the way to the last stop, the train is terminated at a stop where a majority of passengers get down and the train returns to the originating station. It is called split reversal.” A senior official of HMR said that there are several metros in the world that use split reversal during peak hours.

Passengers, especially IT and ITes employees travelling to Hitec city will prefer getting down at stations closer to Hitec city. “There are inter-change stations and people could also alight from a train at these stations and move ahead,” said an official.

A train from Nagole to Shilparamam will be terminated mid way where the core passengers travel and return to the starting point. For example: The train may originate at Nagole and go upto Ameerpet and return back to Nagole.

Half of the compartment in each train would be reserved for women. A flexible barrier would be placed. In Dubai and other metros there is a strip in yellow indicating the space for women.

Ziauddin said that half of the compartment would be kept for women. That means there would be two-and-a-half compartments for male passengers in the three car trains.

Mohd Ziauddin, chief engineer, HMR, shares his experiences and lessons learnt from the conference on ‘Capacity Building Of Leaders in Urban Transport’ organised by World Bank at Dubai Centre.

The programme on capacity building of leaders in urban transport was beneficial in more ways than one. We got to learn and unlearn several aspects pertaining to urban planning, with special reference to metro rail projects.

There are many inputs that I shared with the L&T officials who are executing the project. HMR and L&T are deliberating on implementation. Studies reveal that metro rail projects would be successful only when last mile connectivity is provided and that is one major take away.

Electronic display boards would be provided at all the 64 stations that would display bus timings in real-time with global positioning system.

The plan is to provide mini bus service- 8 seater vans which could be provided at the stations. The service could be maintained by HMR and the RTC, modalities would be decided at an appropriate time. A passenger could hop off a metro train and take the mini bus by just swiping the same card. The merry-go-round services would enable last mile connectivity and passengers would not have to wait. Also at present the vehicle parking facilities for metro travelers is being provided at 18 locations which may be increased.

The software has data of 200 plus cities. The beauty of the software is it provides information on a variety of parameters. It helps in taking decisions and not making the past mistakes of other cities. The software has data on a host of aspects such as weather conditions, topography, population, road network, public transport and various socio-economic parameters. When a problem is posed, the software throws up information of other peer cities that have a similar problem and how the cities coped up with the problem and found solutions.

When we provide a query on any parameter, the software provides information. For example, when we ask about signaling system, it shows that Cairo City does not have one and how the city is plagued with traffic congestion and log jams.