Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of Hyderabad Metro rail project on Tuesday.
The prime minister took a ride along with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Governor ESL Narasimhan in the newly inaugurated Metro rail.
The inaugural journey was across four stations, where tight security was put in place.
The metro will be thrown open to the public from Wednesday while smart cards have been on sale though the weekend.
In its first phase with 24 stations, the metro will cover a 30-km stretch and is expected to carry 17 lakh passengers each day.
The 30 km-long stretch from Nagole to Miyapur has 24 stations covering several busy clusters and city landmarks, including the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Osmania University, Secunderabad Railway Station and major commercial hubs like Begumpet and Ameerpet.
The project has been divided into three corridors – all passing through areas with high population density.
The trains would run from 6 am to 10 pm initially and the timings would be rescheduled to 5.30 am to 11pm, depending on the traffic and demand, Telangana minister Rao said.
The concessionaire, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd, has fixed a minimum fare of Rs 10 for a distance of up to two km and the maximum fare is Rs 60 for a distance of 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 the traffic, Rao said.
