Title - Airport-Metro link fails, MMTS channel in plan

Hyderabad: Despite the demand for metro and MMTS connectivity to Shamshabad Airport, plans are unable to move forward because such an eventuality was not worked into the design of the airport. Designers are currently trying to figure out how to locate an MMTS junction near the airport complex.

New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, which is the only airport in the country to have metro connectivity, already has a working metro link outside the airport complex from where passengers can check-in if they are carrying check-in luggage.

It seems unlikely that Hyderabad airport will have metro connectivity; talks are currently concentrated on only MMTS connectivity.

“The original designers of the airport are being consulted on how to accommodate an MMTS junction. There is a huge demand from passengers to provide connectivity from the airport to other core areas. We are looking at the option but currently GMR is working on including a junction in their initial design,” said South Central Railway general manager, D.P. Pande.

Passengers and airport staff who commute daily have to depend on private cabs or the APSRTC’s airport liner Pushpak. There is no cheaper alternative. That a major, recently built international airport did not incorporate public transport connectivity into its design is truly amazing.