The 23-km stretch will have 21 stations and the maximum fare will be Rs 60.

The Lucknow Metro Wednesday successfully completed a trial run on the remaining section of its North-South corridor and it is likely to become operational by February, two months ahead of the April deadline.

"We today completed the successful trial run of the remaining section of the North-South corridor. The work is likely to be completed by February, much ahead of the initial deadline of April 2019," said Kumar Keshav, the Managing Director of the Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation.

The 23-km stretch will have 21 stations and the maximum fare will be Rs 60. Currently, it takes around 90 minutes to reach from Munshipulia to the airport, but once the route is operational, the distance will be covered in 40 minutes and people would get a respite from traffic congestion as well, he said in a press release here.

"Construction of Metro in a city like Lucknow has been a challenge in itself. In a period of less than three years, the LMRC has created a world record and has earned the distinction of being the fastest Metro (project) which has ever been implemented so far," Keshav said.

"The early operations of the metro corridor will be our New Year gift to the city of Lucknow," he added.