Metro trains start running in Indore as PM inaugurates first phase

Indore: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the first phase of the Indore metro project through video link from Bhopal, marking the beginning of the first metro rail service in Madhya Pradesh.

Speaking at the Women Empowerment Mega Conference in Bhopal on the occasion of the 300th birth anniversary of Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar, Modi said, "Madhya Pradesh has received its first metro today. Indore has already earned global recognition for its cleanliness. Now, the city will also be known for its metro." Commercial operations started on Saturday on the approximately 6 km `Super Priority Corridor' between Gandhi Nagar Station and Station No 3 of the `Super Corridor', officials said.

The phase, built at a cost of Rs 1,520 crore, has five metro stations, all named in the honour of prominent women -- Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Terminal, Maharani Lakshmi Bai Station, Rani Avanti Bai Lodhi Station, Rani Durgavati Station and Veerangana Jhalkari Bai Station.

The inaugural metro ride from Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Terminal was reserved only for women passengers including a group of sanitation workers.

At the inauguration event held in Indore, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said, "Prime Minister Modi has given a major gift to Indore in the form of metro rail service. Indore has become the 24th city in the country to launch metro services." Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said the city has witnessed the evolution of public transport from bullock carts and horse carriages to buses. "Now, with the launch of metro rail, this is a historic moment," he said.

The foundation of the Super Priority Corridor, where operations started on Saturday, was laid on September 14, 2019. A trial run on the corridor, located in a newly developed part of the city, was conducted in September 2023.

While metro stations in the city are designed to accommodate six-coach trains, currently three-coach trains with a capacity to carry 980 passengers are in operation.

A total of 31.32 km of metro network is planned for Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, with an estimated cost of Rs 7,500.8 crore.

The complete network will have 28 stations, serving the city which currently has a population of over 35 lakh.