Woman Loco Pilot Takes Modi On A Ride in Hyderabad Metro Rail

Hyderabad: It was a woman loco pilot of the newly inaugurated Hyderabad Metro Rail who got to take the first passenger Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a ride, immediately after train services were dedicated to the nation on Tuesday.

The Hyderabad Metro has over 35 women loco pilots and according to state IT minister KT Rama Rao, the state government wants to give more representation to women in the new public transport system.

Besides the chief minister of Telangana, Modi was accompanied by Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana E S L Narasimhan, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, Telangana's IT Minister K T Rama Rao and state BJP chief K Laxman in the much-awaited train's inaugural run. The trains would run from 6 am to 10 pm initially and the timings would be rescheduled to 5.30 am to 11 pm, depending on the traffic and demand, Telangana's Information Technology Minister K T Rama Rao said last week.

He claimed that the Hyderabad metro rail is the most innovative and largest such project in the world in public private partnership (PPP). The concessionaire, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Ltd, has fixed a minimum fare of Rs 10 for a distance of up to two km and the maximum fare is Rs 60 for a distance of more than 26 km. Each train would initially have three coaches and 330 people can travel in each coach. The number of coaches can be increased to six depending on the traffic, Rao said.