N.V.S. Reddy, former managing director of Hyderabad Metro Rail and the government’s adviser on urban transport and Metro Rail, has been given additional responsibilities covering the existing metro network, common ticketing and wider mobility planning in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Area.
The order, issued by Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju on Saturday, assigns Reddy the task of overseeing the operations and maintenance of Phase-I Metro Rail. He will coordinate with Hyderabad Metro Rail additional managing director B. Ajith Reddy to ensure that the network is operated and maintained in line with prescribed safety and operations and maintenance requirements.
Reddy will also coordinate the proposed common ticketing system between Metro Rail, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation and other public transport modes. The government order assigns him responsibility for working towards the introduction of daily, weekly and monthly Metro Rail passes, either independently or jointly with the RTC.
The proposed ticketing arrangements are intended to bring multiple public transport services within a more coordinated passenger-access system. The order does not specify a launch date, fare structure, technology platform or the routes and services that will initially be covered by the proposed passes.
In addition to the Metro Rail responsibilities, Reddy has been asked to provide inputs for traffic and transportation-related works and projects of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, the Cyberabad Municipal Corporation, the Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, the Future City Development Authority and other civic organisations in the metropolitan area.
He will guide civic bodies in preparing plans for improved urban mobility and advise Metro Rail organisations on operations, expansion plans and other activities. The expanded assignment therefore links the day-to-day functioning of the existing Metro network with broader transport planning across Hyderabad’s metropolitan institutions.
The order also allows Reddy to take up other responsibilities entrusted to him by the state government from time to time. The immediate implementation milestones for the common ticketing system, the new pass products and any related operational changes were not specified in the report.
