The passengers of newly inaugurated Aqua Line of Nagpur metro were too excited travelling on Wednesday. Passengers were taking selfies and admiring the top-class infrastructure at stations. They particularly liked the view of Ambazari Lake.
MahaMetro commenced commercial operations on Reach 3 between Lokmanya Nagar Metro Station on Hingna Road and Sitabuldi Interchange on Tuesday, offering seamless connectivity from Hingna to rest of the city.
As soon as the Metro arrived at the platform at Sitabuldi, passengers couldn’t contain their excitement and took out their mobile phones to take pictures. The photo session lasted for good eight minutes until the doors opened to board.
Bhushan Kotasthane, a government employee, also availed the interchange facility by boarding Metro at Khapri and changing for Jhansi Rani Chowk. “Interchange stations are convenient to use and save a lot of time. Metro is cost effective and efficient way of travelling,” he said.
Aqua Line is also helping students save that extra penny as this route touches Saraswati Vidayalaya, Dharampeth College, and further up NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences, Raisoni and Priyadarshini engineering colleges and many more. “This is my first day experiencing the metro service and I am blown away by how massive and well-made the station is. I stay in a nearby hostel and will be accessing this route regularly from Sitabuldi,” said Shreyash Yedke, a student.
Sharing thoughts about the interchange facility, Diptanshu Sawai, another student said, ‘Purpose of public transport is to be efficient and hassle-free and merging orange and blue line is an example of it.” Passengers said Metro should begin operations around 6am so people from Khapri and nearby areas can use it to come to city. Same is true for those going to or coming from airport. “Some people leave for work or school early, some have to catch early morning flights. Otherwise it is very feasible.
Personally I get to travel near my college,” said Pranita Mendhe, a teacher at NKPSIMS. Being the first full day of commercial operations, the footfalls were not much. But quite a few people had come just to experience the ride with friends and family at Sitabuldi. “We bunked office and landed here because of the excitement.
Passengers were all praise for well-maintained stations but some complained there were no chairs for those waiting for trains, especially since waiting time can be half an hour. “The station is spic and span. Now I can say proudly I live in a metro city. Nagpur is reaching greater heights,” said Jyoti Mishra, an employee with Wipro.