Telangana: Work On Hyderabad’s 31 Km Long Airport Metro Line To Be Expedited

Hyderabad Airport Metro Limited (HAML), the body implementing Hyderabad’s airport metro project has decided to fast-track works on the 31 km long mass transport corridor.

HAML engaged two survey teams for gathering ground level data to finalise alignment. This data will be crucial for deciding the location of metro pillars, stations and the profile of the viaduct, and their heights.

Officials on Sunday (18 December) toured the proposed alignment route from Raidurg Metro station to Narsingi Junction, a stretch which houses numerous IT companies. 

The officials have decided that by extending the existing blue line metro line from Raidurg by 900 metres, a new integrated metro station for the blue line and the airport line needs to be built.

Also, another integrated metro station needs to be planned for integrating the proposed BHEL-Lakdikapul line with the airport line.

According to Telangana Today, the officials have also decided to inculcate CM KCR’s suggestion of planning airport metro even for regular commuters who travel to IT hubs for work. They reiterated the need to plan airport line metro stations at major road junctions.

Connecting airport with IT hub
Telangana Chief Minister (CM) K Chandrashekhar Rao, popularly known as KCR, laid the foundation stone for a 31 km long airport metro rail corridor in Hyderabad on 9th December.

This 31 km long metro rail line would connect the IT hub in the western Hyderabad and the airport located in southern Hyderabad.

To be known as ‘Airport Express Metro,’ this project is estimated to cost Rs 6,250 crore.

This new metro rail corridor will start at Mindspace junction and end at the city’s international airport located at Shamshabad after traversing along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) of the city.

It is a Telangana state government funded project and will be completed in three years.

The K Chandrashekhar Rao-led state government in Telangana has already formed a Special Purpose Vehicle -- Hyderabad Airport Metro Limited (HAML) in order to carry out the development, construction, operations and the overall management of the metro line.

The metro is expected to take just 20 minutes to connect the airport to the main city. Biodiversity junction, Nanakramguda, Narsingi, TS Police Academy, Rajendranagar, Shamshabad, Airport Cargo station and terminal are expected to be a few of the stations.

The 31 km long ‘Airport Express Metro Corridor’ would essentially be elevated but 2.5 km of the total stretch will be underground.

Hyderabad’s metro rail expansion

Telangana state government has taken up the Hyderabad metro rail expansion plans.

While it has taken up the metro rail corridor to connect the airport as an entirely state government funded project, it has asked the union government to fund its proposal for a 26 km long metro rail corridor from BHEL to Lakdikapul.

In a letter to Union Minister for Urban Affairs Hardeep Sngh Puri, Telangana’s Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Minister K T Rama Rao asked for inclusion of Hyderabad metro’s phase-2 expansion in Union Budget 2023-24.

Phase-2 covers 31 km of expansion with two components. Major part of it is a 26 km long corridor with 23 stations from BHEL in north-western Hyderabad to Lakdikapul in central part of the city. Other components include a five km connecting link with four stations from Nagole to LB Nagar.

If taken up, this phase-2 expansion provides more metro rail connectivity in the rapidly developing western part of the city.

The BHEL-Lakdikapul corridor is expected to pass through Madinaguda, Kondapur, Hitec city, Raidurg, Mehdipatnam, Tolichowki and Masab tank areas.

At present, Hyderabad’s metro rail network spans over 69 km with three corridors criss-crossing the main city.