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 The work on the Hyderabad Metro Rail's second phase will be launched in January next year as the Hyderabad Airport Metro Ltd (HAML) is gearing up to take up long-pending connectivity to the Old City.  

Though the Telangana government is waiting for the Centre’s nod for five corridors of 76.4 km, which is estimated to cost Rs 24,269 crore, the special purpose vehicle of the state government is set to undertake the work on the Old City Corridor.

A major portion of this 7.5 km long corridor from Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) to Chandrayangutta was originally planned under the first phase but could not be taken up due to various issues.

HAML Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy told media on Tuesday that the work on the Old City Corridor will begin from the first week of January while demolition of the properties acquired through the Land Acquisition Act on the route will be taken up in December last week.

A total of 54 stations are planned in the second phase, including six stations on the MGBS-Chandrayangutta corridor.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is keen to complete all the work within the next four years. N.V.S. Reddy said that there will be minimal acquisition of private properties except in the Old City. Property owners are being offered Rs 65,000 per square yard in the Old City.

None of the 106 religious and heritage structures along the proposed route in the Old City will be demolished. "We have worked out engineering solutions to avoid them," he said.

The HAML MD revealed that the entire second phase, except the 1.6 km stretch inside the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), will be elevated.

All five proposed corridors under Part-A of the second phase will be the extension of three corridors of the first phase. The daily ridership under the second phase is expected to be 7.96 lakh by 2028.

The longest among the five proposed corridors will be the Nagole-Shamshabad RGIA (Airport Corridor). This 36.8 km long corridor will have 24 stations. This will be an extension of the present Blue Line - Raidurg-Nagole (29 km).

Another corridor of 11.6 km with eight stations is planned from Raidurg to Kokapet Neopolis. The Old City Corridor will be an extension of the present Green Line - JBS to MGBS (11 km). This will further connect to the Airport Corridor at Chandrayangutta.

The Miyapur-Patancheru corridor will be 13.4 km long with six stations. This will be an extension of the present Red Line - LB Nagar-Miyapur (29 km). LB Nagar-Hayat Nagar corridor of 7.1 km length with six stations will also be an extension of the Red Line.

Reddy said citizens can access the airport route from any of the three existing lines and extensions.

Part A of the second phase will be taken up as a 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) project of the Telangana government and the Central government at an estimated cost of Rs 24,269 crore.

The Telangana government’s share of the project is 30 per cent (Rs 7,313 crore) while the Centre's share is 18 per cent (Rs 4,230 crore). Loans will be raised from JICA, ADB, NDB and other institutions, whose total share would be 48 per cent (Rs 11,693 crore) while the PPP component would be 4 per cent (Rs1,033 crore).

The state government recently accorded administrative sanction for the five corridors of Part A of the second phase.

Under Part B of the second phase, the HAML has proposed a 40 km long corridor from RGIA to Fourth City (Skill University). The field surveys for this route are underway while alignment and cost estimates are being worked out.

The first phase of Hyderabad Metro, covering three dense traffic corridors and spanning over 69 km, was built with a cost of Rs 22,148 crore. It is the world’s largest Metro Rail project in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

About five lakh passengers are using it for their daily commute. The highest ridership of 5.63 lakh was recorded on August 14, 2024.

According to Reddy, the cumulative ridership of Hyderabad Metro in the last seven years is 63.40 crore.

Initially, the Hyderabad Metro stood second in the country, next only to Delhi, in terms of operational network. With no expansion in the last 10 years, it slipped to third position. While Delhi is first with a 415 km long network, Bengaluru with a 74 km long network is in second position.

With Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai executing expansion projects, Hyderabad is likely to drop down to ninth position, if urgent action is not initiated, said the MD.