Hyderabad: The 1.5-km stretch of metro rail between Hitec City station and Raidurg would be inaugurated on November 29, Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) announced on Thursday. Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) Janak Kumar Garg inspected the section and conducted the mandatory check and safety tests over the last two days and issued a safety certificate for opening of the stretch, HMRL managing director N V S Reddy said.
Telangana Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao and Transport Minister P Ajay Kumar would flag off the train at Hitec City station and travel by the train to Raidurg, he said.
Regular passenger service would start a few hours later, he said. The opening of stretch would provide a major relief to a large number of employees working in IT/ITES and other establishments and that an initial additional ridership of about 40,000 is likely, Reddy added.
The elevated metro rail project here is the country's second-largest metro rail network with 56 km in operation, next only to Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the 30-km stretch between Miyapur and Nagole out of the 72-km-long elevated Hyderabad metro rail project in November 2017.
In September 2018, another 16-km stretch between Ameerpet and L B Nagar was commissioned. On March 20 this year, a 10-km stretch between Ameerpet and Hi-Tec City was inaugurated, covering 56 km out of the 72-km project. Nearly four lakh passengers commute by the metro daily. It has carried 12.5 crore passengers in the last two years, the HMRL official said.