| Dattatreya wants special corridors with additional platforms |
Taking stock: Bandaru Dattatreya, State BJP president, interacting with MMTS passengers on Friday.
HYDERABAD: Commuters of Multi Modal Transport System (MMTS) on Friday urged the government to operate additional services and open more ticket counters besides better security system on trains.
They gave vent to their grievances to former Minister of State for Railways Bandaru Dattatreya, who was one of the key persons behind the launch of the services during his stint at the Centre. Mr. Dattatreya, also the State president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), travelled in an MMTS train from Faluknuma to Lingampally in the morning to study the state of services.
During his journey, the commuters complained of many inadequacies beginning from poor public announcement system to lack of complaint cell.
One lakh commuters use 87 MMTS trains in twin cities daily on an average. The patronage growth, in fact, has been phenomenal ever since the services have begun as there were only 11,000 commuters travelling in 47 trains during 2003.
Despite good occupancy levels over the years, limited trains were being operated during peak hours, commuters pointed out. Giving an example, they explained that after one train at around 9 a.m. from Huppuguda to Secunderabad, the next train was available only at 10.25 a.m. “There is a great need to increase frequency of services”, pleaded Shiva Kumar, a passenger. More than boarding an MMTS train, it was very difficult to obtain a ticket as a majority of the stations were equipped with just one exclusive MMTS ticket counter, said several passengers.
Poor security“We are invariably greeted with serpentine queues at the counters,” bemoaned another passenger Savithri. “There is poor security at the stations and miscreants are causing nuisance especially at nights. We do not know where to lodge our grievances too,” she added.
MMTS passengers were quite clear that they preferred the public transport system despite all the problems as it helped them reach their destinations faster besides avoiding heavy traffic on the roads. But, passengers like Shaik-Ur-Rehman were also critical of the local trains being halted “indiscriminately” at stations like Sitaphalmandi whenever the line had to be cleared for movement of express trains.
Talking to presspersons later, Mr. Dattatreya echoed the sentiments of the commuters and observed that the MMTS trains should be operated on special corridors with additional platforms and ticket counters.
He lamented that the Railway Board was reluctant to launch MMTS Phase II works though several representations were made. “It’s time to take up the second phase as it would not only generate more earnings but also aid in decongesting the city roads,” he pointed out.
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