The Congress government is getting ready to lay the foundation stone for constructing a 29-km Metro rail line through the Old City to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Shamshabad, connecting Nagole, LB Nagar, Chandrayanagutta and Mailaradevpally. The project, as per the current estimates, is likely to cost around ₹8,700 crore—₹300 crore a km.
While few would argue against an efficient, eco-friendly and reliable public transport system such as an overhead Metro line connecting the bustling city areas with the suburbs, the government can perhaps also consider a cheaper alternative.
It will take just ₹150 crore if the government joins hands with the South Central Railway (SCR) to construct an on-ground railway line to the RGIA. The SCR has already completed doubling and electrification of railway lines up to Umdanagar station, from which it is only six-and-a-half km to the international airport, according to senior railway officials wishing to remain anonymous.
They indicated that the SCR is ready to build the line if the State government permits it. An earlier plan to build a railway line to the airport was dropped after the airport authorities wanted the trains to stop at the cargo terminal itself and not near the passenger terminal.
While the track record of the railway authorities in running the MMTS suburban trains with better frequency and punctuality is nothing much to crow about, senior railway officials are sure that if the State government steps in with serious intent, an alternative public transport system, cheaper to build, maintain and run, can be in place within a short span of time.
Metro rail officials accept that the ongoing preliminary surveys for the Airport Metro through the Old City will take up to three months. This will be followed by detailed project reports, following which funding patterns have to be fixed before tenders are called. These steps could easily take up to a year, and the construction will take up to five years.
Underscoring that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had directed the Metro rail officials to take the shortest route to the airport, the senior railway officials point out that the same can be done for a on-ground rail network too.
“There were some discussions with the airport authorities, but nothing materialised because of the experiences under the MMTS phase II construction. The MMTS railway line to the airport could serve its own employees, workers in the nearly manufacturing and warehousing units and also cargo. Passengers, too, can use the service till the Metro rail is built, and it will also be convenient for those coming from the districts,” they said.
