HYDERABAD (Metro Rail News): Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) Limited, the Telangana Government’s Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which has managed the metro rail project’s construction and current operation, will soon hire a reputable socio-economic research firm to conduct an analysis of the current metro rail operations, costs, passenger amenities, and affordability.
Senior metro rail officials stated on 31st October that this came following the Central Government’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) constituted a three-member ‘Fare Fixation Committee’ (FCC) for recommending a fare revision under the chairmanship of Justice (retired) G. Shyam Prasad and the Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar, (MH&UA) Additional Secretary Surendra Kumar Badge.
The Central Metro Railways Act panel has started operating from the Metro Rail Bhavan. The HMR and the concessionaire L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) have already made separate presentations and started consultations.
L&TMRH, which has built the project, and is running across the three corridors of Red Line — L.B. Nagar to Miyapur; Blue Line — Nagole to Raidurg; and Green Line — Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS), Imlibun, or 69 km in all, has requested the appointment of the fare revision committee with the completion of five years this month, informed senior metro officials.
“The committee will receive suggestions from the public and will go into the details of the cost, income, and expenditure of running and maintaining the transport system. It has three months to submit a report. L&TMRH will make a submission and this too will be studied including the real estate development before it is taken to the government by the HMR for a final decision,” they said.
Metro riders can offer inputs about the fares — whether they can be increased, reduced, or keep the same — and also about passenger comforts to the committee. On the other hand, “The agency to be appointed will be doing an independent survey talking to the commuters, do a lot of analysis, study inflationary trends and rail operations also,” said HMR Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy, when contacted.
