All eyes are on the IT city today and not just on the trial court for the VVIP visit of neighbour Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Around the time that Ms Jayalalithaa reached court in an impressive 20-car convoy to appear in a disproportionate assets case, many of the city's people had already gathered for a first ride on the Metro that promises to reduce the extreme traffic congestion in the city and make life easier for commuters. The Metro will be opened to the public at 3 pm today.
Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi flagged off the first train at the Mahatma Gandhi Road station. Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda was present as were senior BJP leaders Ananth Kumar and Arun Jaitley.
In the first phase, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) will run the services on a seven-km metro rail stretch from Mahatma Gandhi road to Byyappanahalli from morning to late evening. The service will connect the city centre to the eastern suburbs and will run on elevated tracks.
Built at a cost of Rs. 6000 crore, at least 20,000 people are expected to use the Metro service every day.
The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) are also jointly introducing common day passes that can be used both in metro and BMTC buses. According to a BMTC release, the Metro Bus Transit Day Pass for commuting in the metro and BMTC non-air-conditioned buses is priced at Rs. 70. The Metro Bus Transit Day Pass for using the metro and all BMTC services except Vayu Vajra costs Rs. 110.
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