Hyderabad: Passengers bemoaned that they have to more money on reaching the newly inaugurated Cherlapally terminal, than the actual rail ticket. The upgraded terminal with modern facilities was inaugurated on Monday.A special train to Tirupati was flagged off on Monday, following the inaugural by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. One Tuesday, at 7.30 pm, a special train was operated to Narsapur.The station, which is on the outskirts of Hyderabad, lacks public transport facilities and is connected with narrow roads.Deccan Chronicle had reported this issue on its March 27, 2024, when redevelopment works were going on.Passengers on the Cherlapalli-Narsapur train said the closest public road network was in Mallapur Circle, more than 5 km away. Passengers from other parts of the city complained that they spent heavily on private transport.Several passengers asked why the railways had not introduced frequent MMTS services to Cherlapalli, when they planned to operate major rail services from the terminal.Presently, there are only two MMTS services (Lingampally-Ghatkeser) at Cherlapalli, one in the morning and one in the evening.Sahita and her mother, residents of Kondapur, were bound for Bhimavaram from the new terminal. “We spent `1,310 for a cab to reach here. It took almost three hours to reach here. We usually travel from Lingampally or Hyderabad or Secunderabad. We missed our train yesterday and we opted for this train as there is no other option. It is a tiresome commute to reach this station,” Sahita said.Vandana, a resident of Banjara Hills, traveling to Pallakollu, said, “Why can’t the railways facilitate the MMTS services? Majority of the passengers will be from Hyderabad city itself.”Narsimha, a resident of Chintal, traveling to Narasapur, said, “On an autorickshaw, I spent `370 which is equal to the ticket fare. These are the additional burden on the middle class. We are forced to spend as there is no other way.”Manuja Challa, a resident of KPHB, “The cabs are hardly getting booked to this place, we spent `500 for a cab, my ticket cost is `800. The train was at 7.30 pm. To reach here, we had to start from home at 3 pm. The traffic is heavy during the evenings. We opted for this station’s train as there is no availability of tickets for the trains which originate from the city.”Monika, a resident of Yousufguda, said, “My hometown is in Bhimavaram, I travel at least thrice a month to my hometown. Traveling to this station is a tough task. I feel it is more exhausting than to travel to my home town itself. If this is the situation, I will cut down on my frequent travels.”
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