The Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) on Monday introduced a special coach on board the trains exclusively for women.
The 'Ladies Special Coach' was inaugurated by HMRL Managing Director NVS Reddy and L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited MD and CEO KVB Reddy. National Table-Tennis player Naina Jaswal was also present.
"This initiative is for the safety and security of women passengers travelling in the Hyderabad Metro," HMRL said in a statement.
"Gender equality is our priority and we have been having consultations with women organisations who have given us several suggestions about how we can make this project safer for women. The coach is one of the suggestions and just the beginning," NVS Reddy was quoted as saying.
Speaking to the media, NVS Reddy said that the 16-km stretch between Ameerpet and LB Nagar as part of Corridor-I would be completed by July this year, while the work between Ameerpet and Hitec City will be done by October.
Meanwhile, works related to Corridor-II between JBS and MGBS are expected to finish early next year.
Last month, the Metro frequency on the Miyapur-Ameerpet-Nagole stretch was increased as officials said that there would be a train every seven minutes during peak hours. During non-peak hours, the frequency would be eight minutes.
The statement also said that this move would ensure that the journey time from Nagole to Secunderabad stretch would be 16 minutes, while Nagole to Ameerpet would take 32 minutes and Nagole to Miyapur would involve a travel time of 55 minutes.
The 30 km-long first phase from Nagole to Miyapur was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 28 last year and has 24 stations, which covers a large part of the city - from the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium at Uppal to Osmania University and the Secunderabad Railway Station, to other areas like Ameerpet and Kukatpally.
Corridor 1 of the largest metro project in the world in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode was thrown open for commercial operations after that, with work on Corridor 2 and Corridor 3 aiming to be functional by December 2019.
IANS inputs