1. Microbiome sampling from a “brand new” Metro system MetaSUB Hyderabad, India Bharath Prithiviraj Ph.D., MetaSUB Hyderabad & Volunteer, Mason Lab, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA. Mr. Narasimha Rao Nedunuri, CEO, ClonzBio Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, India Lakshman Kumar B. Ph.D., GeneTech Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, India.

2. City of Hyderabad, Telangana State, India  Population of the metropolitan area was 7.6 million during the national census 2011. (http://www.census2011.co.in/)  Census estimates project this population to reach 13.6 million by 2021.  4 th most populous city in India with 650 sq.km. land area.  Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) to construct metro lines across three corridors. Charminar, Hyderabad. Credit: www.lifetrendz.com

3. Significance / USPs of Hyderabad Metro: Baseline microbial community structure prior to occupancy Each transit unit to carry 926 passengers per run Commuter traffic to be expected over 30000 per day Only metro rail system in India that is completely elevated ~72 kms

4. Current Status: Operations expected to start in Fall 2016 Samples collected from trial runs Clonz Biotech to be processing the initial set of samples Subsequently one or two academic partners to join the project for NGS and Bioinformatics Bharath to co-ordinate the Indian Project.

5. On the Location

6. Swabbing trains: Baseline

7. Swabbing Ticket Vending Kiosks

8. Team & Acknowledgements: 1. L & T Metro India Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad, Telangana, India www.ltmetro.in 2. Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited, Telangana, India. www.hmr.gov.in 3. Government of Telangana State, India. Photography: Sri Charan