Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Phase 1 of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project. In its first phase, the metro will travel 30 km between Miyapur and Nagole, covering 24 stations. The commercial operations of phase 1 will be thrown open on Wednesday, 29 November.
The 30-km first phase of the Metro Rail project between Miyapur and Nagole, having 24 stations, was launched at 2:15 pm on Tuesday, 28 November, at Miyapur station. Its commercial operations will start on Wednesday.
The trains will run from 6 am to 10 pm initially, and the timings can be rescheduled to 5:30 am and 11 pm, depending on traffic and demand, Telangana's Information Technology Minister KT Rama Rao said on Saturday, 25 November.
The construction for the Metro Rail project could start in 2012, but the movement for separate statehood to Telangana had put a big question mark on its future.
When Telangana was carved out as a separate state from Andhra Pradesh in 2014, L&T was concerned that the project may not be viable in post-bifurcation Hyderabad.
The Telangana government also proposed changes in alignment at three points, leading to further delay.
The Congress has claimed credit for the Hyderabad Metro Rail project, but the ruling TRS hit back at the Opposition saying it was not planned properly.
Claiming that the Hyderabad Metro Rail was an "achievement of the Congress,” Telangana Congress president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the present TRS government was wrongly trying to take credit for the project.
Reddy also alleged that neither the TRS government in Telangana nor the BJP government at the Centre made any contribution to the project.
Countering the Congress’ comments, state Animal Husbandry Minister T Srinivas Yadav said the previous Congress governments could not plan the project properly.
Read the full story here.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)