The Hyderabad Metro Rail will be a disabled friendly public transportation. The Government ensured the Metro has facilities to aid the differently abled.
HMR’s Managing Director, N.V.S. Reddy said, “We have considered the needs of the disabled right from the design stage itself at the ground level, entry/exits, escalators, lifts, fare gates, ticket vending machines, tiling on the platform or the signages for their convenience.”
To begin with, the Metro will have ramps from the road up to the station for people in wheelchairs. There are special toilets as well to aid the physically challenged. HMR posted images to show the buttons in the elevator are encoded with Braille script for the blind. There is also a tactile strip to help guide the visually impaired.
Reddy was quoted saying, “Wheelchair-bound passengers will not encounter any problem getting into the train as care is being taken in maintaining the gap between the platform and train floor. Even the blind persons will not run the risk of getting their feet accidentally trapped in the opening between the platform and the train door. Once in, the wheelchairs can be locked to a special ‘grab hold’ in the train in the designated wheelchair spaces.”
The Metro will make announcements in English, Telugu and Urdu for people of different linguistic backgrounds. The 30 Km stretch of the Metro from Nagole to Miyapur should be in function before the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. PM Modi is invited to inaugurate the HMR but confirmation is awaited.
