One lakh travel on metro on day one

Hyderabad: Hyderabadis gave thumbs up to the Metro rail as the young and the old made a beeline to the 24 stations on the Nagole-Miyapur stretch on Wednesday. The excitement was palpable as even old people were seen taking selfies at Metro stations and even inside the trains, prohibition of photography notwithstanding.

By afternoon, over 50,000 passengers had already taken the metro. Speaking to the media personnel late evening, N V S Reddy, Managing Director, Hyderabad Metro Rail said, “The response was much more than expected. I interacted with a lot of passengers and was overwhelmed by their response, especially women, who said they felt safe travelling in the train.”

Allaying fears of safety, Reddy said there were 64 cameras in each station with a 360-degree span and there was no issue of safety. By afternoon, 45,000 tokens were sold and smart cards crossed 10,000 figure.In all, 14 trains were put into service in two corridors: Miyapur to Ameerpet (Corridor I) and Ameerpet to Nagole (Corridor III). The average speed of train was 33 km per hour.

Every eight minutes there was a train between Miyapur and Ameerpet and every 15 minutes between Ameerpet and Nagole. The trains have a capacity to run every 19 seconds. However, Reddy informed that for the next few months the present frequency would be maintained and would be increased based on the demand and traffic movement.