Lucknow, Jan 9 (IANS): The Lucknow Metro on Wednesday completed the successful trial run on the remaining section of the North-South corridor, signalling an early start of the service, an official said.

The 23-km-long corridor from the Chowdhary Charan Singh International Airport to Munshipulia has been completed ahead of its April deadline.

"The Metro work is likely to be completed by February," the official told IANS, adding that the stretch will have 21 stations and the maximum fare will be Rs 60.

Currently, it takes around 90 minutes to reach from Munshipulia to the airport. Once the route is operational, the distance will be covered in 40 minutes and people would get a respite from traffic congestion, the official said.

While executing the 8.5 km 'Priority Corridor' project between Transport Nagar and Charbagh, the LMRC (Lucknow Metro Rail Corp) achieved numerous milestones.

The LMRC is set to complete the construction work of the remaining North-South corridor in record time, said Kumar Keshav, Managing Director of LMRC.

"Construction of Metro in a city like Lucknow has been a challenge in itself," he added.

The LMRC is a rapid transit system serving Lucknow. Construction of the line began on September 27, 2014, with the 8.5 km stretch from Transport Nagar to Charbagh Railway Station which began its commercial operation on September 5, 2017.

The project is being financed under a 50:50 Joint Venture (JV) model with equity participation from the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government.

Apart from this, about 53 per cent of the project cost or Rs 3,502 crore is being funded externally as loan from the European Investment Bank.

The completion cost (including central taxes) of the North-South corridor is Rs 6,928 crore.