Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Metro rail will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on 28 November. A stretch of 30km of the total 72km under the first phase will be launched and open for public use from the next day.

“The 30-kilometer stretch is the longest to be opened on inauguration among all metro projects in India," said Telangana information technology (IT) minister and municipal administration minister K. T. Rama Rao on Saturday.

He along with other ministers, MLAs, and MPs undertook a trial run two day prior to the inauguration.

From 29 November onwards, the Hyderabad metro rail will be operational from 6am to 10pm, and the service might be extended to 11pm later based on feedback, said Rao. “This is one the largest innovating projects on a public private partnership mode. We have 57 trains and each of them have three coaches, which (automobile company) Hyundai has supplied," he added.

On Saturday, as part of the trial run, Rao and other law makers along with journalist took a ride on the metro rail from the Nagole to the next few stops and back. The stretch of 30 kilometers which will be open to the public from 29 November will be from the Nagole to the Miyapur station, connecting three different parts of Hyderabad, while passing via the core city areas of Secunderabad, Ameerpet and Begumpet.

Passengers will have to get down and change trains at the Ameerpet metra station to reach Nagole from Miyapur (which falls in the Hi-tech city area) and vice-versa. The total first phase of the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2018, stated Rao.

He added that the Hyderabad metro rail project will provide commuters with ‘smart cards’ for travel as an option, which will later to extended to other modes of public transport as well. The first phase will cover a total distance of around 72km across three corridors: Miyapur to LB Nagar, Jubilee Bus stand to Falaknuma and Nagole to Shilparamam.

“We are also developing 18 million square feet of commercial area for viability," said Rao. The entire project is being built at a cost of over Rs14,132 crore.

The starting fare for the metro, for a distance up to 2km, has been fixed at Rs10 while the maximum fare, for more than 26km, is at Rs60.

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