For 28-year-old A Preethi, it was a special day. She was at the controls for Chennai’s first metro rail trip, guiding the sleek blue-and-silver four-car train smoothly out of Alandur station at around 12.15 pm. Dressed in a brown salwar suit, Preethi, an engineering diploma holder, was surrounded by lensmen keen to photograph the historic trip for posterity.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa flagged off the service from her office in the Secretariat through a videoconferencing facility.

The inaugural run, however, went empty and commuters were allowed to board the train only from the next service. Services on the 10-km Alandur-Koyambedu stretch started after a nearly eight-month delay.

Quick trip The Alstom-built metro cars cover the distance in about 19 minutes, stopping at five stations. Alstom, which bagged the contract to supply the trains, imported an initial set of about 10 cars from Brazil. It has set up a plant in Tada, just across the State border, in Andhra Pradesh, from where it supplies the coaches.

A novelty, the Metro had the Chennaiite excited. And, it was a not even a free ride. Passengers had to buy a pre-loaded smart card worth ₹100, which they could top-up as and when they used the metro. Eager commuters had started queuing up at the ticket counters at both Alandur and Koyambedu, to the west of the city, long before the official inauguration.“I came at 10 am,” said K Balan, a 68-year-old AIADMK worker, showing off his smart card. “I felt as if I had bought a first-day, first-show ticket for a Rajnikanth movie,” exclaimed college student Y Manohar, who skipped classes to ride in the metro. “The train is clean and it is quite exciting to travel,” said the commerce stream student, who resides in Tambaram.

Most folks were excited and busy taking selfies on the train and in the station. They were happy with the air-conditioned ride on what was another sweltering day.

Costly ride It costs ₹40 to travel from Alandur to Koyambedu in the metro train. The fare is cheaper than an auto ride, which can cost over ₹100, but more expensive than a bus ride or a shared auto, which cost around ₹20. Both options are available just across the Alandur station.

Chennai Metro’s fares are costlier than those in Kolkata and Delhi. In Kolkata, it is ₹25 for a 30-km ride while in Delhi it is ₹27 for 31.52 km.

However, for some, the ₹40 fare for a 10-km ride did not seem daunting. “I don’t mind spending ₹80 a day as it is much cheaper than travelling by car, which is tiring, time consuming and costlier,” said S Srinivas, branch manager of Jetfleet, a car rental service.

First-year medical college student M Sunitha, too, felt that the cost will not be a deterrent to travel from her college in Ashok Nagar to Koyambedu.She pointed out that it takes nearly 40 minutes by bus from Koyambedu to Ashok Nagar, but less than ten minutes by the metro.

But, Latha, who works in a restaurant in Koyambedu, is not too enthusiastic. “I am riding just for fun. It is too expensive; I will give the smart card to somebody else,” she said.

Officials of Chennai Metro Rail Ltd heaved a sigh of relief after the inauguration. Their long wait had finally ended. “Though we were ready in all aspects, we could not inaugurate the services for three-four months due to various reasons. We had to bear the brunt of the public and media (anger) for the delay,” said a senior official who did not want to be named. “I will sleep well tonight,” he told BusinessLine .

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