BENGALURU: An average of four lakh commuters in Bengaluru reach their destinations on time every day. For a city notorious for its
traffic crawls, it’s a heartening figure and at the heart of it is Namma Metro’s success story.
Clocking a consistent
punctuality rate of 99% since it got on tracks in 2011, this mass transport system has turned into the most reliable mode of commute,
shows data sourced by TOI. Between January and July this year, the punctuality rate on Purple Line was 99.79% compared to 99.76% on the Green Line.
Punctuality rate of trains running on the 18.2km Purple Line (Byappanahalli to Mysuru Road) has been consistently better compared to Green Line (Nagasandra to Yelachenahalli) that spans 24.2km. However, Purple Line is busier than the Green Line. On September 11, for instance, a record 4.3 lakh people took
Namma Metro, including 2.3 lakh on Purple Line and 1.9 lakh on Green Line.
While punctuality average on Purple Line has increased from 99.72% in 2011 to 99.78% in 2017, on Green line it has reduced from 99.81% to 99.77% between 2014 and 2017.
Since its inception, the Metro service has turned into a boon for many. Said Mohit R, a resident of Malathalli Road: “Namma Metro has turned into a blessing for me. After I suffered from severe back and neck pain, my doctor advised me not to ride a bike. Riding a two-wheeler through the Mysuru Road stretch towards MG Road was a headache. Thanks to Metro, I could ditch my two-wheeler. However, the first-mile connectivity from my house to the station continues to be poor. Despite a lot of demand, there aren’t enough feeder buses.”
Factors such as introduction of more trains, increased number of trips and and network expansion over the years have had no impact on punctuality, said BMRCL officials. As per records, the number of trips on Purple Line increased from 12,986 in 2011 to 96,468 in 2017. Similarly, number of trips on Green Line rose from 53,505 in 2014 to 76,765 in 2017. Trips delayed on Purple Line increased from 36 in 2011 to 254 in 2016 to 209 in 2017. On Green Line, 99 trips got delayed in 2014, 114 in 2015, 52 in 2016 and 175 in 2017.
Records also show the utility cancelled 6,092 trips since 2011. This includes 3,961 trips on Purple Line and 2,131 on Green Line. The most number of trips cancelled in a year on Purple Line was 2,790 (in 2015); on Green Line, the figure stood at 1,407 trips (in 2014), the year when operations on this line commenced.
BMRCL operates trains at an average frequency of 8-15 minutes during non-peak hours and 3.5 minutes to six minutes during peak hours on Purple Line. On Green Line, average frequency is 8 to 20 minutes during non-peak hours and 5-7 minutes during peak hours.
‘Among the best in world’
A senior BMRCL official said Namma Metro has one of the best punctuality rates in the world. “A delay in trip is calculated by subtracting the scheduled time of arrival of a train from actual time of arrival at the destination. If the actual arrival time is more than 59 seconds beyond the scheduled time, it is treated as a delay. However, if the actual arrival time is over 179 seconds, it is treated as a delay as well as punctuality loss,” explained a senior BMRCL official.
However, in most foreign countries, a delay of over three minutes is considered late.
COMMUTERS SPEAK
* While we are happy about the punctuality factor, the trains are mostly jam-packed. This is because there aren’t enough coaches. Only one train has six coaches, which is very less considering the demand.
Vineeta G | Metro user
* Namma Metro offers a faster and comfortable ride, but poor frequency of feeder buses to and from Metro station remains a concern. In fact, people are spending more time reaching stations than on Metro rides
Y Sravan | Metro user
