BANGALORE: The wait for metro rail in the country's IT hub Bangalore is finally over! Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath inaugurated the service which will open to public from 4 p.m. Thursday. The Metro service will run between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, several state ministers, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley, and a number of state Congress leaders were present at the inauguration at the decked up M.G. Road station. Bangalore Metro stations: First Look Almost all of them, along with senior officials of the state government and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, special invitees and media personnel took the first ride in the "Namma Metro" (Our Metro) flagged off by Kamal Nath.Bangalore has taken a step towards solving its most pressing urban infrastructure problem with the launch of the Metro rail service – India's third such after Kolkata and Delhi. Traversing just under seven kilometres through the eastern part of the city, the so-called 'Reach 1' of the Metro is regarded more as a sign of hope than a major contributor to easing Bangalore's notorious traffic congestion.Linking the once-fashionable MG Road business district with Baiyappanahalli, the Metro is projected to carry 30,000 passengers a day, with fares ranging from Rs 10-15. The Delhi Metro , in comparison, has clocked peak traffic of two million and snakes through nearly 200 km of India's capital and surrounding areas."The first 'reach' will cater to a limited number of people and is unlikely to ease traffic in the city," said Pravin Sood, Bangalore's top policeman in charge of traffic.The subsequent 'reaches' totally spanning the 42.3 km, will make a difference when they are completed in 2014, Sood said, expecting vehicular traffic to fall by up to 30% as a result.While the Delhi Metro has been a model for the rest, it does not have something that Bangalore Metro has: onboard Wi-Fi connectivity, in keeping with Bangalore's reputation as one of the world's top technology centres. But Bangalore Metro is at least a year behind schedule and its first phase will cost Rs 5,000 crore more than the estimate of Rs 6,395 crore. It is only the second phase, which will involve extensions to the city's tech hubs on the outskirts, that will make Bangalore Metro a true game-changer.Bangalore Metro is standard gauge, a system used by most metros worldwide. Narrower than the broad gauge, it allows for greater manoeuvrability, easy ride along curves, laying of tracks even on narrow stretches and control. The standard gauge has a track width of 4ft, 8.5inches, or 1,435mm, while the Indian broad gauge is 5ft, 6inches, or 1,676mm."The Bangalore Metro, in terms of technology, is comparable to any metro rail system in the world — in Europe , USA or China — and is even ahead of some of them," BMRCL MD N Sivasailam said.The rolling stock (coaches/cars) are three stainless steel-bodied wagons. Though equipped with automated functions, the train will be under the driver’s control. The seating capacity per train is approximately 1,000, giving more floor area to standing passengers.The coaches are world-class, manufactured by Hyundai Rotem Korea and Mitsubishi Electric Company. BEML has the licence to manufacture coaches in Bangalore. While Mitsubishi supplied traction for the coaches, Hyundai Rotem supplied the rolling stock and BEML the coaches.Electricity for the train will run on a third rail next to the main track. It has an opening at the bottom at points from where the train draws its power. The third rail is covered with a yellow shroud, and a person falling on the track won’t be electrocuted. ABB will design, supply, install and commission four substations to receive and distribute electricity at 66/33 kV, as well as auxiliary and traction substations.ABB will provide an integrated network management, or SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system to monitor and control installations.Cameras will be installed inside the train as well as stations, and people’s movements will be monitored by an operations control centre at Byappanahalli. In case of any help or emergency, the control room will be able to see what went wrong.Passengers will have emergency voice communication with train staff through a speaker system. Passengers can press a call button to communicate anything urgent to the driver or control centre. Help will be at hand at the next station.State Bank of India has launched its ATM-cumtransit card which can be used for cash transactions and to board the Metro. "Those who have the card should visit the ticket office and show it to the person manning the counter before using it the first time. The person will initialize the card. It’s a one-time procedure," says Ashwini Mehra, chief general manager, SBI.From October 21 onwards, regular Metro train services will start from Byappanahalli (BYPH) and MG Road (MAGR) at 6am in each direction. The frequency of trains will be 15 minutes between 6am and 8am, 10 minutes between 8am and 8pm, and 15 minutes between 8pm and 10pm.The last service will run at 10pm from both directions: Byappanahalli Station to MG Road, and vice-versa.