Had been to Hyderabad over the weekend to attend a wedding. Wanted to explore MMTS utilizing this. Reached Kachiguda on Friday morning at around 8:20 am in Bangalore - Kachiguda Express. Had done little work on the net on how to reach Miyapuram using MMTS to save both time and money. Found Hafeezpet is the nearest MMTS railway station and there is an MMTS train every 30 minutes.
Myself and my friend took MMTS train at 8:45PM. We had to go to the main station building from our platform. There was a long queue to buy tickets. There were Automatic Vending Machine, but needed MMTS card which we didn't had. But, there was an aged railways person who used to take cash and print ticket. I took ticket from him and proceeded towards platform. Wished they had installed ATVMS in every platform. Fare was mere Rs.10
Platform was heavily crowded waiting for MMTS train. Once the train arrived, everyone rushed, found that platform and train height was different and not disabled friendly. Once has to climb the train and without any steps on the train. Looks like the train is designed for level boarding and hence no 'ladder' to climb whereas the platforms are not designed and the service is running just like that.
Train was crowded and there were stations every 1-2 kms with train travelling around 1-2 minutes. There are seats without cushion designed for 2 people to sit, but 3 people were squeeziing in. Acceleration and braking was fast just like Metro with a 3 driving car MEMUs. Within train, there were route maps within the train and next station name was displayed in English, Hindi and Telugu.
Junctions like Secundarabad and Begumpet were the delay points for the train with train waiting to enter the station for almost 5 plus minutes. Lots of people got down at Hi-tech city. We got down at Hafeezpet after around 45 minutes of journey and with both sitting and standing. From Hafeezpet, lots of people were taking shared autos, we took a dedicated auto. No metre business in Hyderabad.
There is a first class coach and it is whoopingly expensive. A 10 Rs ride in ordinary class costs Rs. 140 in first class which is non-A/C and not much of difference in comfort level. Wish they could have had A/C and Metro like coaches for first class and the price be around 3 times or 4 times expensive than normal class
Hyderebad railway network is not as extensive as Bangalore. Double track and electrification starts from Falaknuma and as soon as it starts, MMTS train starts. I also found few DEMUs beyond Falaknuma station on single track non electrified track. Local Government is so keen to have local train service whereever double track exists. Traffic volume of trains in Hyderabad is much more compared to Bangalore since all the Delhi bound and Kolkatta bound trains from south India passes through it. Despite of it they have a MMTS network.
Bangalore has double tracks in Mysore direction almost till Mandya, till Chennai, till Doddaballapur and it is going towards Tumkur. We are much better, but we lack this.
Things that could be better done in Bangalore is:
1. Looking at the patronage, 10-15 minutes frequency.
2. Level platform for easier boarding for normal as well as disabled people.
3. 3-4 A/C Coaches with 3-4 times that of non A/C fare.
4. Some special infrastructure to make it pass through major junctions like SBC, Yeshwantpur, Byappanahalli, Yelahanka faster without delay.
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