Transport in Hyderabad

Secunderabad Railway Station is one of the central stations of Hyderabad

Hyderabad (i/ˈhaɪdərəˌbæd/ HY-dər-ə-bad; often /ˈhaɪdrəˌbæd/), is the capital and the largest city of Telangana. It is located in the south central part of India. There are several modes of transportation available in the city. It is very well integrated and has modern transportation facilities. Though due to its presence in inland, on the Deccan Plateau waterways through sea is not possible.

Air

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport

In 1935, Hyderabad's Hakimpet air base was linked with international flight services.[1] The new and modern airport at Shamshabad replaced the old Begumpet Airport, on 2 March 2008. As of 2010, The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad has been judged among the world's top airports in the category of serving 5–15 million passengers, according to Airports Council International,[2] and the world's fifth best airport, according to Skytrax.[3] The airport has one of the longest runway (4260 metres) in India,[4] and caters to high passenger and cargo volumes. In January 2011, it became India's first airport to transport more than 30,000 tonnes (66,000,000 lb) of temperature-controlled pharmaceutical products.[5] It is the primary base for SpiceJet's fleet of Bombardier Dash 8s.[6] GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited, which operates the airport, has been awarded the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation award in the category of Best Airport Environmental Performance of the Year 2009.[7]

The airport is connected to the city by three major roads.[8] The 11.6-kilometre (7.2 mi) Hyderabad Elevated Expressway provides dedicated high-speed travel to the airport. As of 2011, it is the longest expressway in India.[9] The Nehru Outer Ring Road serves as a controlled-access expressway between Gachibowli and Shamshabad.[8] Metered taxis and buses are available as transports to the airport.[10]

Hyderabad is well connected with direct flights to all major destinations in India, as well as to various locations in Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. Currently, Hyderabad has flights connecting either directly or intermediate stops to foreign cities like Frankfurt, Singapore, Dubai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Dammam, Chicago (O'Hare), London (Heathrow), Doha, Jeddah, Muscat, Riyadh, Kuwait.

Roads

Hyderabad is well connected to many other locations in India, such as Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Nagpur, Chennai, Pune, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada, either through directly or through intermediary locations. The highway (express way) network linking Hyderabad to various parts of the country is very good. Three National Highways (NH) pass through the city—NH-7, NH-9 and NH-202.[11] Five state highways—SH-1, SH-2, SH-4, SH-5 and SH-6 begin from Hyderabad.[12] As a growing city, regular multiple development projects,[13] around the city had made traffic congestion a common issue.[14] Like many other Indian metropolitan cities, Hyderabad also face parking problems, particularly in the city center due to growing population density, encroachment of pavements, developing commercial centers. In Hyderabad the roads occupy 10% of the total city area.[12] The HMDA developed multiple projects such as Inner Ring Road, Outer Ring Road, interchanges, overpasses and underpasses to ease the traffic congestion.[9] As of 2011, Hyderabad Elevated Expressway is the longest expressway in India.[9] The HMDA and GHMC had come up with multiple development projects of mechanised multi-storeyed parking complexes and an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS).[15] The city has a well laid out internal road systems. Many of the important roads are 3-lane on either side. However, as in most in Indian cities, due to an increase in the population and the number of vehicles sold in last decade and the lack of perceptible lane discipline, chaotic traffic snarls occur throughout the day making driving in the city a stressful experience for vehicle owners.

The Telugu Talli flyover lit up at night

A series of flyovers have been developed at various important junctions across the city to decrease the traffic congestion. However, due to the narrow width of these flyovers, traffic snarls occur at peak hours In order to decrease these snarls, the city plans to improve the Inner Ring Road around Hyderabad within the city limits.

A new Jawaharlal Nehru Hyderabad Outer Ring Road [16] of about 160 km is complete. This ring road is expected to ease the traffic congestion by a lot inside the city as heavy vehicles passing through the city on the national highways can bypass the city using ORR. The first phase from Gachibowli to Shamshabad is partially opened to ease airport traffic.

The P V Narasimha Rao Elevated Expressway Corridor from Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital to Aramgarh Junction is completed. This is expected to be the longest flyover in India with a length spanning over 11.5 km. The expressway will allow high speed access to the Hyderabad International Airport.

Railways

Nationally, Hyderabad is considered among the important railway cities. The South Central Railway is headquartered at Secunderabad.

The main railway stations for Hyderabad are

Hyderabad Commuter Rail and Bus Network

A new railway station is proposed to be built near HITEC City at Madhapur. Also the Moula-Ali station is expected to be improved to a world class station in near future. These two stations along with Begumpet and Kachiguda are expected to considerable decrease the traffic at Secundrrabad and Nampally (Hyderabad Deccan) stations.

Telangana state road transport corporation

Main article: TSRTC
Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station

Hyderabad has an extensive bus service operated by TSRTC inside the city[17] and to various places across the state. The Mahatma Gandhi bus station or the Imlibun bus station as it is locally known, was once the largest bus station in Asia. It is now the third biggest station in Asia. Other major bus stations include Jubilee bus station (JBS), Dilsukhnagar bus station, Mehdipatnam bus station. The TSRTC operates point to point bus services which connect important places within the city, with a very good frequency. The buses are exceptionally clean and services are very user friendly when compared to other cities in India. There are 4000+ buses in the city running the point to point service. The first double-decker buses in Hyderabad designed by APSRTC & Hyderabad Allwyn Limited were introduced in April 1963.[18]

TSRTC has several kinds of services which differ in comfort, price and the number of stops:

Setwin

Main article: Setwin

In addition to TSRTC nearly one hundred minibuses are being operated in the twin cities[19] by Setwin.

The SETWIN minibus services were started in Hyderabad in 1979. They were stopped for two and half years for causing pollution and poor safety culture. However, in 2006 the services were resumed.[20]

Metro, Demu and MMTS

Main articles: MMTS, Hyderabad and Hyderabad Metro
The Necklace Road MMTS Station
MMTS Local at Secunderabad Railway Station

MMTS and Demu

Hyderabad has a light rail transportation system known as the Multi Modal Transport System (MMTS). The MMTS is owned and operated by Indian Railways. The MMTS connects various parts of the city and suburbs of Hyderabad. During its initial phase, the MMTS along with the then planned MRTS was expected to considerably ease the traffic congestion in Hyderabad. But the railway department did not fully develop the MMTS as planned earlier owing to poor initial patronage. There are some Demu trains running in Hyderabad which run from Secunderabad j.n to Manoharbad, Kachiguda to Manoharbad and Umdanagar to Falaknuma.

Metro

Main article: Hyderabad Metro

The government of Telangana along with private partnership has undertaken metro rail project in Hyderabad. The elevated rail shall run across three proposed routes. The project is expected to complete in four years. It will provide rapid transport across the city without causing damage to the heritage sites along the 3 corridors. The 3 corridors are:

Taxis

The yellow colored Auto Rickshaw usually referred to as an "auto", is the most widely used taxi in Hyderabad. They can be found in any part of the city and at any time of the day. Taximeters are compulsory for all taxis in Hyderabad and this applies for autos too.

Recently other automobiles like cars and SUVs have been introduced as taxi. Radio Taxis provide a luxury travel in the city but are considered relatively expensive for common man. Some of the known service providers are Easy Cabs, Meru Cabs, Dot Cabs, Ola Cabs, Uber, Mega Cabs, Taxi for sure, Yellow cabs, Orange cabs, Green cabs.

Car rental services are also available in the city. Known operators are Avis, Hertz and Budget.

References

  1. ↑ "Modern Period". aponline.gov.in. 2002. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "Delhi, Hyderabad airports among top in the world". Times of India. 16 February 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  3. ↑ "Hyderabad airport adjudged amongst top five in world". The Hindu. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
  4. ↑ "Hyderabad airport ranked 5th best in the world!". rediff.com. February 18, 2010. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Lufthansa Cargo to use GMR Hyderabad airport as pharmaceuticals hub". The Hindu. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  6. ↑ "Hyderabad’s RGIA to be a key base for SpiceJet’s Q-400 operations". spicejet.com. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Award for airport". The Hindu. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2009.
  8. 1 2 "Another ORR stretch to be ready soon". Times of India. 11 December 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 "Expressway behind schedule". The Hindu. 23 January 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "HIAL Awards Airport Shuttles". gmrgroup.in. 13 December 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "NH wise details of NH in respect of stretches entrusted to NHA" (PDF). National Highways Authority of India. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  12. 1 2 "Exploring urban growth management in three developing country cities" (PDF). World Bank. 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  13. ↑ "Pipeline repair leads to traffic jam". The Hindu. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  14. ↑ "Hi-Tec flyover ready for inauguration tomorrow". The Times of India. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  15. ↑ "Mechanised parking structures in Hyderabad soon". IBN Live. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  16. ↑ "Hyderabad Growth Corridor - Outer ring road".
  17. ↑ Bus routes within Hyderabad
  18. ↑ Yarlagadda, Srinivasulu (2006). Marketing of passenger transport services. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation. p. 40. ISBN 81-7648-976-X.
  19. ↑ "SETWIN to issue tickets now". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  20. ↑ "SETWIN buses back on roads". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
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