08 June,2014 10:52 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan inaugurated the VAG metro line one at Versova metro station on Sunday morning today at 10.15 am in the presence of Reliance Infra Chairman Anil Ambani
Ending the controversy over the inaguration of the 11.04 km VAG metro line one, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan inaugurated the line at Versova metro station in the presence of Reliance Infra Chairman Anil Ambani on Sunday morning today at 10.15 am.
In pictures: Mumbai Metro begins services
CM Prithviraj Chavan inaugurates the VAG metro line one as Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and others look on. Pic/Ranjeet Jadhav
Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Minister Jayant Patil were also present on the occasion.
The train services that were supposed to start by 1.00 were delayed by 10 minutes due to some technical problems.
Due to overcrowding, the train from Ghatkopar to Versova was running till DN Nagar initially. But later services resumed from Versova-Ghatkopar and Ghatkopar-Versova normally, metro officials said.
Also read: Mumbai Metro's VAG line to start from Sunday morning
When quizzed by the media persons about the fare hike issue, CM Prithviraj Chavan said, "We will resolve the issue of fare hike by discussion with MMOPL authorities and we will also take help of the Court for the same. We have already filed a petition about the same in high court and a hearing on the same is expected on Monday. We want the fares to be between Rs 9 and Rs 13. We also want the fare fixation committee to take a final call on the fare issue. "
The Mumbai Metro train arrives at the platform
It should be noted that there is a provision in the agreement signed between state government and MMOPL where a FFC needs to be formed and it takes a decision on increase in fare hike.
Also read: The Mumbai Metro's VAG line rolls out today
"It has been inaugurated and I am confident this mode of transport will be a boon to Mumbaikars. In Navi Mumbai also the metro work is in progress. Constructing an elevated metro in a crowded city like Mumbai was a difficult and challenging job but we are happy that Mumbaikars will now save a lot of time as this East West connectivity will be very helpful," added CM Prithviraj Chavan.
