In Karnataka, Bangalore Metro rail was flagged off this morning by Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath. Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, Minister of State for Railways K H Muniyappa were also present on the occasion. Opposition leader in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely, Karnataka Chief Minister Sadanand Gowda attended the function.The metro connects Byappanahalli to Mahatma Gandhi Road, a distance of over seven kilometers. Four trains with three coaches each will operate every 10 to 15 minutes frequency from both the direction and can take 1000 passengers in each trip. When complete the metro will have two corridors. The first phase will cover 42.3 km across the city, with 18.1 km on east-west corridor and 24.2 km on north-south corridor, including 8.8 km underground in the city centre.