If there’s a man who can be credited for the successful completion of the Kochi Metro, it is E Sreedharan. Popularly known as the “Metro Man”, Sreedharan oversaw the entire project through hurdles such as fierce monsoons and labour strikes.

However, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled on a Kochi Metro train on Saturday to inaugurate Kerala's first metro, the man behind Delhi and now Kochi Metro, Sreedharan, will not have a seat on the dais.

In the first 25-km phase, trains will run for 13 km between Palarivattom and Aluva. Work is on in the remaining section.