The Railways has cleared the General Agreement Drawings (GAD) for all the eight metro rail crossings in a record time giving a big boost to the concessionaire L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad (L&TMRH) for expediting the project, said Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy on Wednesday.
Elevated metro rail viaducts will be crossing SCR tracks at eight locations - Bharat Nagar, Lakdikapul, Malakpet, Begumpet, Alugadda Bavi, Chilkalguda, Olliphanta Bridge & Secunderabad station at heights varying from 35 to 65 feet from the road level. “The viaduct will be built above the overhead power lines too. The first rail crossing viaduct will be taken up at Bharatnagar,” said Mr. Reddy at a function held to hand over the beautified open area in front of the Rail Nilayam developed by HMR to SCR General Manager G.N. Asthana on the eve of the latter’s retirement.
Designs were finalised after a series of inspections and technical discussions on the heights and span lengths of the viaduct by engineers of SCR, HMR, L&TMRH and other rail experts.
The bridges are designed to stringent railway safety standards with provision for running of double-decker trains and leaving space for laying additional railway lines in the future. The HMR Managing Director thanked SCR officials for clearing the crossings showing “flexibility and understanding”.
Rail Nilayam frontage now has a garden and a pedestrian pathway developed over the last couple of months on a request by Mr. Asthana as the portion was in a bad shape with broken sewer lines, vegetation and construction debris strewn around.
Similar coordinated effort will help take up construction of metro stations adjacent to the rail crossings at Secunderabad, Nampally, Begumpet and Bharat Nagar Railway/MMTS stations, he added. Mr. Asthana appreciating the HMR initiative said it was an indication of its plans to give an aesthetic touch to different parts across the three metro rail corridors with signages, plants, street furniture, etc. Senior SCR and HMR officials were present.
