New Delhi, Sept 17: With the flagging off of the first dream Metro train for trials, Delhi today joined the select league of world capitals having the mass rapid transit system. "Though like television, the metro has arrived in Delhi comparatively late, going by the cooperation between the central and city governments and various agencies involved, it promises to be a world class Metro," Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said at a gala ceremony at the metro car depot at Shastri Nagar in North-East Delhi.

The first four coach trains set, which was flagged off today, will be subjected to safety tests and integrated trials for three months on the congested Shahdara-Tis Hazari section before being thrown open to public in December.

Describing the event as a "very, very proud moment for Delhi", an elated city chief minister Sheila Dikshit said, "a dream has come true. In the years to come, the Metro rail is going to change not only the face of Delhi and its transport system, but also the capital`s work culture."

In the next 10 years, 260 odd kms would be completed, she said and expressed hope it would connect the entire national capital region with Delhi.

The most expensive urban transport system in the country, the project, supported by Japan in the form of soft loans covering 56 per cent of the cost, is expected to cost a whopping Rs 12,370 crores on completion.

Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Hirabayashi described the Metro as a "symbol of Indo-Japan friendship and cooperation."


Delhi is the second city in the country to have the Metro system after Calcutta. Bureau Report