Bangalore Metro rush to continue till June 2018
BENGALURU: Metro rides during peak hours will continue to be the crowded affair that it now is, at least till the middle of next year.
The three-car trains, despite running at four-minute intervals during peak hours, are too small to accommodate the growing rush. And with the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation expecting a 195% increase in ridership after the entire Phase-1 becomes operational, a Metro ride will mean a tighter squeeze.
Call it short-sight or what you will, the BMRCL placed orders for six-coach trains only last week.Bharath Earth Movers, a PSU under the Ministry of Defence, which made the three-car trains earlier won a Rs 1,421-crore contract to supply 150 sets of cars.
The problem period will be the months between the opening of the underground section on the NorthSouth corridor and the arrival of sixcar trains. “The supply of Metro cars to BMRCL would commence from June 2018 and would be completed by December 2019,“ BEML's official release said.
“This is nothing but being penny wise and pound foolish,“ Prashanth Srinivas, a regular metro commuter, said. “Rs 14,000 crore is spent on Namma Metro but when it comes to providing services, a lot needs to be done. Senior citizens, women and children find it difficult to travel in the peak hours as coaches are fully packed. BMRCL should learn from Delhi Metro, which is operating a train every 90 seconds,“ he added.
Extension of services is also another demand. “Metro should be available to the public from from 5 am to 12 midnight. There are a lot of long-distance buses and trains services that start and arrive in the early and late hours,“ he pointed out.
BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said the corporation is prepared to manage the increasing ridership by providing trains with higher frequency.“During the peak hours, we will run a train every three minutes.The train timings are getting revised based on passenger demand,“ he added.
There are now 50 three-car Metro trains doing duty on the Green Line (29 trains) and the Purple Line (21 trains). “All these trains are used on a rotational basis. We will not be short of trains even if the passenger load goes up,“ said a Metro official.
The three-car trains, despite running at four-minute intervals during peak hours, are too small to accommodate the growing rush. And with the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation expecting a 195% increase in ridership after the entire Phase-1 becomes operational, a Metro ride will mean a tighter squeeze.
Call it short-sight or what you will, the BMRCL placed orders for six-coach trains only last week.Bharath Earth Movers, a PSU under the Ministry of Defence, which made the three-car trains earlier won a Rs 1,421-crore contract to supply 150 sets of cars.
The problem period will be the months between the opening of the underground section on the NorthSouth corridor and the arrival of sixcar trains. “The supply of Metro cars to BMRCL would commence from June 2018 and would be completed by December 2019,“ BEML's official release said.
“This is nothing but being penny wise and pound foolish,“ Prashanth Srinivas, a regular metro commuter, said. “Rs 14,000 crore is spent on Namma Metro but when it comes to providing services, a lot needs to be done. Senior citizens, women and children find it difficult to travel in the peak hours as coaches are fully packed. BMRCL should learn from Delhi Metro, which is operating a train every 90 seconds,“ he added.
Extension of services is also another demand. “Metro should be available to the public from from 5 am to 12 midnight. There are a lot of long-distance buses and trains services that start and arrive in the early and late hours,“ he pointed out.
BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said the corporation is prepared to manage the increasing ridership by providing trains with higher frequency.“During the peak hours, we will run a train every three minutes.The train timings are getting revised based on passenger demand,“ he added.
There are now 50 three-car Metro trains doing duty on the Green Line (29 trains) and the Purple Line (21 trains). “All these trains are used on a rotational basis. We will not be short of trains even if the passenger load goes up,“ said a Metro official.
