Chennai: Chennai joined the likes of Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Jaipur, after Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa inaugurated Chennai Metro Rail Limited's passenger services between Alandur and Koyambedu.
She flagged off the train through video conference, after which, it left Alandur station at 12:14 pm and reached Koyambedu at 12:35 pm. The Rs 146 billion project was approved by the previous Congress-led UPA regime in 2009, with the work beginning later that year. The metro rail is expected to cover 32 stations in the coming years and has been designed to connect Chennai Airport, Chennai Central railway station, Egmore Station, CMBT and MRTS.
A large number of people gathered at the Alandur station by 11am to buy tickets for the first passenger train which left at 1.30 pm. J Lakshminarayana, an engineering student who was in the queue to buy a ticket, said, “I will not be a regular commuter on the metro. But I wanted to experience it on the first day. In fact, I wanted to travel on the first train on the first day.”
