Hyderabad: With only two days to go before Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally launches the first phase of the Hyderabad Metro Rail, state minister for urban development K. Taraka Rama Rao on Saturday rode the Metro train from Ngole to Mettuguda to ensure everything is in place.
Taraka Rama Rao was accompanied by other cabinet colleagues and elected representatives, including Jagdish Reddy, P. Mahinder Reddy, members of Parliament Bandaru Dattatreya and Malla Reddy and city Mayor Bontu Rammohan and legislative council chairman Swamy Goud.
Officials of th eHyderabad Metro Rail Ltd and the L & T company showcased various special features of the state-of-the-art Metro Rail system including how all the trains will be remotely controlled from the communication and command centre at Uppal. Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the Metro project at 2.15pm on Tuesday at Miyapur — the biggest of the 24 stations on the 30km stretch from Nagole to Hitech city.
“Hyderabad Metro will create a record from Day 1 as it will be first time that 30 kms long stretch will become operational from launch,” Rao told journalists after launching the “TSavari” app, which will provide passengers details of the available transport facilities in the city including the Metro, the city buses of State Road Transport Corporation and the local trains.
While PM Modi, state governor ESL Narasimhan, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and other VIPs will have a brief ride from Miyapur to Kukatpally and back on Tuesday, the service will be open to the general public the next day.
Initially the Metro train will start running from 6am and will continue till midnight with each train having three coaches with a capacity of carrying 1000 passengers. Later it will be doubled to six coaches, KTR said.
The fare chart of Metro trains was expected to be announced later this evening or tomorrow. There were indications that the Metro will have a minimum fare of Rs12 (Dh0.68) and maximum fare of Rs45.
“We will have fares which will be affordable for the common man,” he said.
L & T, which has developed the project and will also operate it, has requested that the minimum fare should be Rs15 and maximum Rs55 but the state government was keen to stick to the initial agreement and have a minimum fare of Rs10, in line with fares in Bengaluru and Delhi.
KTR expressed confidence that the Metro project will be completed and will fully become operational on all the three corridors by the end of 2018.
