HYDERABAD: Hyderabad Metro became the second biggest rail network in India, after Delhi Metro as Governor ESL Narasimhan flagged off a Metro train from Ameerpet Interchange station towards LB Nagar on Monday.
Authorities ran 71 trips between Ameerpet and LB Nagar and vice versa on Monday. Commercial operations of the stretch were kicked off at 6pm, hours after inauguration and last train left the stations at 10:30pm. From Tuesday, 270 trips will be run on this stretch, according to HMRL managing director NVS Reddy.
With inauguration of the 16km Ameerpet-LB Nagar stretch, the entire Corridor I (Red Line) of the project which runs a total length of 29km, comprising of 27 stations between Miyapur and LB Nagar, has now been completed. The operational 30km Metro rail corridor between Miyapur and Nagole was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2017. With Ameerpet-LB Nagar stretch now open, 46km of Metro is currently operational. The newly inaugurated stretch comprises of 16 stations and is expected to reduce the traffic volume on roads.
At the inauguration, MA&UD minister KTR said, “With 46 kilometres now operational, Hyderabad Metro has become second largest Metro rail network in India and the first such project carried out in PPP mode, with the central and state governments and the concessionaire as partners. While nearly Rs 3,000 crore has been spent by the state government, L&T invested over Rs 12,000 crore. The Centre also gave close to Rs 1,458 crore. The entire work has been estimated to cost Rs 14,132 crore.”
KTR added that electric vehicle charging stations would also come up soon at Metro stations. “While over one lakh passengers are travelling on the operational stretch, the ridership will double with this new stretch,” he said.