Bhagyam is a domestic worker who travels six days a week from Hyderabad’s suburbs to the bustling Ameerpet business centre. She works in an advertising office and two other houses in the neighhourhood before returning home to Lingampally in the evening by Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) suburban train service run by the South Central Railway (SCR).
The minimum cost of a one-way ticket is just ₹5 (₹15 maximum) and has not changed since the inception of the service way back in August 2003. Naturally, for her and scores of other low-income workers, vendors, small-businesspersons and even the IT/ITES support staff, this is the lifeline public transport.
Yet, of late the local train services have become erratic with the railway authorities frequently cancelling services citing “maintenance” or “lack of patronage”, leaving citizens like Bhagyam high and dry. “MMTS train travel is convenient, cheaper and quicker besides being safer. But, the trains’ schedule is not maintained, making it very difficult for reach our workplaces on time. As we work in more than one house, a 30-minute delay or a sudden cancellation [hits us hard and] makes it very difficult for us to rely on the service,” she says.
