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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the first phase of the 72-km elevated Hyderabad Metro Rail project at the Miyapur station in Hyderabad.
After launching the 30-km stretch between Miyapur and Nagole, having 24 stations in between, the prime minister took a ride on the train on its inaugural run.
He was accompanied by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor E S L Narasimhan, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, Telangana Information Technology Minister K T Rama Rao and state Bharatiya Janata Party chief K Laxman, among others.
The prime minister, with other dignitaries, took a ride in the inaugural run from Miyapur station to Kukatpally station (a distance of five km) and back, Hyderabad Metro Rail Ltd Managing Director N V S Reddy said.
A mobile app named ‘T Savari’ for Metro passengers was launched by the prime minister, who was also given a power-point presentation on the project at Miyapur station.
The metro would be open for public from Wednesday.
The 30-km stretch in the opening phase is the longest for any metro in the country on inauguration, Rama Rao said. It was a proud day for loco pilots S Supriya and M Rajasekhara Chary as they were in the drivers’ seat for the inaugural run.
The trains will run from 6 am to 10 pm initially which would be rescheduled to 5:30 am to 11 pm depending on the traffic and demand, Rama Rao said.
Hyderabad metro rail is the largest project of its kind in the world in the public-private-partnership mode, he said.
The concessionaire, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd, which is developing the 72-km project, has fixed a minimum fare of Rs 10 for a distance of up to two km while the maximum fare is Rs 60 for travelling more than 26 km.
Each train would initially have three coaches and 330 people can travel in each coach. The number of coaches can be increased to six depending on traffic, Rao said.
The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation will start feeder services for the metro from Wednesday.
A smart card was launched last Saturday for metro passengers.
As many as 546 security personnel from private agencies will man the stations on the Miyapur-Nagole stretch. They will be working under three police officials per station in each shift, HMRL officials said.
The L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) has already installed sophisticated CCTV cameras at all the stations and in trains.
Reddy said several measures have been taken to ensure comfortable travel for the disabled too.
The project on which work began in July 2012, was initially scheduled to be completed by June this year but delays due to land acquisition and other issues resulted in it overshooting the deadline.
The project overcame many hurdles such as a default by the first concessionaire -- Maytas Infra-led consortium -- and subsequent developments, crucial land acquisition by the state government and logjam for sometime over route alignment.
He also unveiled the inaugural plaza and the specially designed pylon located next to the entrance of Miyapur metro station.
The inaugural Plaza-Pylon embodies the rich heritage of Hyderabad and yet it sports a contemporary look.
Unlike other monuments generally fenced off, this one has been built as an open structure, accessible to all and would be a selfie point the residents and tourists visiting the city, HMRL said.