HYDERABAD: As the much awaited Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) threw open its 30-km stretch connecting Nagole and Miyapur at two ends of the city on Wednesday, Express took the first ride at 6 am, from Nagole and Miyapur respectively, along with enthusiastic denizens to capture the public mood and observe the completeness of works that were taken up in a war footing. Here is what they found.
At 6 am on Wednesday, in the middle of the week, one would assume people to be getting ready for work and rushing about with their daily chores. Surprisingly, a lot of them stepped out to experience the first ride on Metro. While a majority of them were in for a joyride, there were a few who boarded to reach their workplace.
Mahesh, whose work involves laying of borewells in Kukatpally, took the train from Nagole rode till Ameerpet. However, he was not very excited. “There is nothing very fascinating. The fare is a little high too,” he said. He waited for a changeover to reach Kukatpally. Mahesh, however, does not fall in the majority who were not just excited about the new facility.
Vinod Jadhav, a father of two daughters, took the Metro without fearing that the kids might be late to school. Though they only travelled from Tarnaka to Habsiguda — two subsequent stations — the three of them felt it quite reliable. The first train which was supposed to start at 6 am from Nagole was delayed and started only at 6.15 am. The ticket vendors and station managers were overwhelmed with the response. As the issuing of tickets was delayed, some people missed the first train. However, ticket vendors caught up and managed it smoothly for the second ride which started at 6.30 am and reached Ameerpet by 7.12 am.
Further, announcements made in the trains in English and Hindi were not clear.
Ticket valid only for 2 hours
Those going towards Miyapur from Nagole need to change over at Ameerpet. The token which works as the ticket is valid for a total of 120 minutes from the time of purchase. Smart card users can move at their will. The staff is friendly and guides passengers in need of help.
Halts vary from 17-40 secs
Frequent jamming of automatic gates was experienced at entry and exit points at stations. Currently, there are no announcements or sign boards in Urdu, which was currently announced as the second official language of the State. The user experience is largely limited to the trains.