Hyderabad: Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd (HMRL) is actively considering rolling out six-coach and four-coach trains on busy routes, officials told TOI. This comes after years of persistent demands by commuters for additional coaches, as the existing three-coach trains are insufficient to cater to the daily passenger rush.Presently, the existing 56 Metro trains that ply across the three lines have only three coaches each. Commuters have been seeking an increase in the number of coaches, pointing to other cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, where the Metro trains have four, six and even eight coaches in some cases.Officials said that as part of the plan, at least 40 to 60 additional coaches would be procured, a number which was arrived at after a detailed assessment of passenger footfall, operational feasibility, and other key factors.“The new coaches will not be attached to the existing trains. Instead, we will determine suitable train configurations using them. We are considering introducing four- or six-coach trains, or a mix of three-, four-, and six-coach configurations based on route requirements and footfall trends,” Sarfaraz Ahmad, managing director (MD) of HMRL, told TOI.The coaches will be procured from one of the three existing Metro manufacturing units in the country, namely Alstom, BEML Limited, and Titlagarh Rail Systems. The MD said that the introduction of more trains would increase the frequency of services and bring down waiting time for passengers.“We think the frequency between trains could be brought down to as little as two minutes,” the MD added.Officials said that it could take a while for the coaches to arrive. “Discussions are still in preliminary stages. Once we place the order, it will take at least two years for the coaches to reach Hyderabad. Once the takeover from L&T is complete, we will actively pursue this,” the MD said.Locals who regularly travel by Metro welcomed the decision, calling it a much-needed move to ease overcrowding during peak hours.“Every day I have to deal with packed compartments and finding a seat is extremely difficult when going home from office in the evening. Adding more coaches will certainly address the issue of overcrowding to a large extent,” said Satya Prakash, an IT employee who commutes from Nagole to Begumpet.“We currently have only one coach allocated for women. With the addition of more coaches, I request Metro authorities to reserve atleast two compartments for women, which will encourage more female passengers to use the Metro and also make them feel more safe,” said Siri Varshini, a school counsellor who takes the Metro from Hitec City.The development, which is long overdue, comes amidst a transition phase for HMRL. Larsen and Toubro (L&T), the private enterprise that holds approximately 90% of the ownership stake, announced their intentions to pull out of the project, which will be completely taken over by the state govt in a year’s time.
