In some great news for New Year’s Eve revellers, the Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) has announced that it is extending its service on January 1 till 2.30 am instead of the regular time of 10 pm.
HMR said that the last train will leave from Nagole and Miyapur stations at 2.30 am.
Meanwhile, the metro, which completed one month of its service after it was inaugurated on November 28, has registered an overwhelming response from the city’s residents. The HMR authorities revealed that a total of 32.25 lakh passengers boarded the train since its commencement.
Elated with the news, Minister of IT KT Rama Rao took to Twitter to express his happiness over the response to the metro from the public, although he slightly exaggerated the figure.
Exactly a month after inauguration, Hyderabad Metro carries 34 lakh passengers; approximately 1.13 lakh passengers per day making it one of the most successful metro launches in India pic.twitter.com/QCmEBH8iMV
— KTR (@KTRTRS) December 29, 2017
On Saturday, the HMR also presented a ‘Customer of the month’ award to a regular metro commuter. However, the award came under scrutiny when many questioned how the authorities identified the winner when there was no mechanism in place to identify regular passengers.
Commuters are also complaining about the parking fare at the Nagole metro station which has become a costly affair. The erstwhile free parking was revoked and the paid parking was implemented from December 29. The parking fee for two-wheelers is fixed at Rs 5 for the first two hours and additional Rs 2 would be collected for every hour after that. For four-wheelers, the fee is fixed at Rs 12 for the first two hours, and an additional Rs 6 would be collected for every hour after that.
The Hyderabad Metro Rail was launched on November 28 amidst much pomp and gaiety by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Currently, the metro covers 24 stations between Miyapur and Nagole, a distance of 30 km.
In a recent press conference, HMR MD NVS Reddy announced that the other two stretches would be completed by June 2018.