After a wait of six long years, the first Bluish-Silver coloured rakes of the Chennai Metro Rail whizzed across the skyline over 100 Feet Road after it was inaugurated at Alandur Metro Rail station by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa a few minutes past noon on Monday.
The station was decked up for the event and many, including CMRL officials, waited for the Chief Minister to flag off the train through video conferencing. Excited people thronged the Alandur station trying to catch a glimpse of the launch and take the first ride in the metro rail. Anita, the mother of A. Preethi, who drove the inaugural train, broke down out of sheer happiness... “I am feeling proud now,” she said speaking to The Hindu .
Fares for the 10 km stretch from Chennai Moffusil Bus Terminus to Alandur ranged from Rs. 10 to Rs. 40. M. Sujitha, a medical college student, who took a ride in the first service, was elated. “Now I don’t have to grapple with traffic when I travel to my college in Ashok Nagar,” she said.
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Initially, there will be nine trains running between Koyambedu and Alandur with a frequency of about 10 minutes, officials said. The trains will halt for 30 seconds in each station. Though Chennai Metro Rail trains can travel at a maximum speed of 80 km/hour, they are expected to run about 35 km/hour. Each Chennai Metro Rail train can carry about 1,200 people.
In 2009, the Chennai Metro Rail had an ambitious start with towering expectations from the public; but as the construction progressed, the project ran into various hurdles ranging from cash crunch faced by contractors to the delay in construction and land acquisition.