Hyderabad metro rail is a public-private partnership (PPP) project developed by L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited. The metro network spans about 69.2 km in length with three elevated corridors, connecting
Miyapur to L.B. Nagar, Jubilee Bus Station to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station and Nagole to Raidurgam. The project has been operationalised in phases, with the final stretch being operationalised on February 7, 2020. Currently, Hyderabad metro has an average daily ridership of 0.36 million, which is targeted to reach about 0.4 million in the near future. The project, however, was conceptualised about 30 years ago, but faced certain challenges leading to time and cost overruns.
Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) has been taking noteworthy initiatives to ensure successful project implementation. In order to make the PPP project viable, HMRL has undertaken transit-oriented development (TOD) that has a share of about 45 per cent in total revenue and the distribution of advertisement rights that has a share of about 5 per cent in total revenue. Besides, it has extensively used precasting techniques as a part of its civil construction methodology. Metro coaches comprise modern, lightweight and energy efficient rolling stock delivered by Hyundai Rotem. A communications-based train control moving block system is being used for signalling, while all three corridors have been interconnected and are centrally controlled through a operational control centre. Besides, HMRL has already implemented an automatic QR code-based system for fare collection. Some of the salient strategies adopted by the company include stage-wise commissioning of the project, involvement of operations experts to mitigate issues pertaining to operations and maintenance (O&M) and involvement of clearly identified lead and match contractors to ensure proper system integration. With the help of its O&M partner, Keolis Hyderabad Mass Rapid Transit System Limited, HMRL has been fairly successful with regard to O&M of the metro rail system, with standard operating procedures being incorporated for O&M at each step. Focus has also been placed on ensuring complete reliability, availability, maintainability and serviceability of the metro system. To ensure last-mile connectivity, HMRL has tied up with cab services such as Ola and Uber, besides providing metro feeder, bike rental and shuttle services for a faster and more convenient commute. With respect to public amenities, free two-wheeler and four-wheeler parking facilities are being provided at metro stations for commuters. While public facilities such as ATMs and department stores are already being provided at metro stations, other services such as free Wi-Fi are also being offered by HMRL. The company has also come up with a comprehensive T-Savaari app, through which people will be able to get all the information about the Hyderabad metro. In order to ensure resource and energy conservation, HMRL has installed captive solar power plants at depots and on station rooftops, in addition to adopting water harvesting and waste management practices.
Similar to other metro projects in the country, the Hyderabad metro project faced certain issues in project implementation, pertaining to delays in land acquisition, delays in availability of encumbrance-free right of way, utility shifting, contractual challenges and multiple revisions of the alignment, leading to reworking of and delays in designs. Ridership realisation has been another hurdle, where an appropriate balance has to be maintained between offering affordable fares and managing operating expenses. Besides, competition from other modes of traffic also poses serious challenges to the success of any metro project. In addition to this, grant of regulatory approvals, change in laws, and issues related to additional requirements beyond provisions in the concession agreement have also led to delays in project implementation. Further, the financial cost in terms of payment of interest during the construction period has been one of the key reasons for cost overruns in the case of the Hyderabad metro rail project, apart from other financial hurdles such as interest rate variation, abnormal foreign exchange fluctuations and inadequate viability gap funding.
Further, private developers in most PPP projects suffer from the issue of unequal risk sharing, which adds to the cost borne by the private party. Technical challenges faced by the project include traffic management, technology selection, system integration, vendor management and technology obsolescence (owing to the constant advancements in technological systems). It is high time that the country develops its own technologies, especially signalling systems, to avoid the heavy expenditure being incurred on import of foreign technology.
Going forward, the government should also focus on enabling a conducive work environment with minimum hurdles as well as an equitable risk-sharing mechanism to ensure successful implementation of PPP metro rail projects in the country.
Based on a presentation by M.P. Naidu, Project Director, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad), at a recent India Infrastructure conference