Bengaluru Underground Metro Rail section inaugurated

Bengaluru Underground Metro Rail section inaugurated

Bengaluru: If criss-crossing the city has now become hassle-free with Namma Metro, Sunday saw yet another milestone.  South India’s first ever underground metro section connecting east west corridor of Banglore metro rail project was inaugurated here.  The 4.8 km long underground section from Cubbon Park to City railway station completes the 18.10 km long east west corridor, also called Purple Line.

Buoyed mostly by picnickers, the ridership on the metro’s newly launched Purple Line, connecting Baiyappanahalli in the east and Nayandahalli in the west, crossed a record one lakh by the evening. The underground section that passes through Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, consists of five stations. Cost of construction for this stretch is about Rs 2,000 crore.

The section was inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu. They also inaugurated the station in front of Vidhana Soudha named after B R Ambedkar. With the completion of this stretch, out of the 42.3 km of phase 1 of the “Namma Metro” project, 33 km is operational. Phase 1 includes east west corridor of 18.10 km with 17 stations and 24.2 km of north south corridor with 24 stations.

At the inaugural event, Siddaramaih said first phase of Namma Metro “is almost 90 per cent complete and the rest will be completed by November 1 and will be free for operation.” “There was delay in completion of phase one as we stumbled up on a rock while working on underground stretch,” he said.

A sum of Rs 13,845 crore has been spent on phase one, out of which Rs 5,335 crore is borne by the state government. Stating that the second phase of metro will be about 72 km, Siddaramaih said it will cost about Rs 26,405 crore, out of which Rs 9,000 crore will be borne by the state. “Work on second phase has already started after required approval from the Centre and it is likely to be completed by 2020,” he said. With the operation of phase one, people travelling from Bayappanahalli to Mysuru Road, a distance of 18.10 km can be covered in approximately 35 minutes.

Naidu assured that the Centre government is cooperating with Karnataka government in realizing phase three of Metro project for which the feasibility study is underway. He said “with the opening of this line today, the total metro line operational in the country is 316 km in the cities of Delhi, NCR, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Jaipur and Mumbai. Around 496 km is under construction in various cities….” “Another 580 km is under consideration for Vishakapatnam, Vijayawada, Pune, Ahemadabad and others,” he added. Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Ananth Kumar, advocating multi-mode transport system for Bengaluru city, said for one crore citizens in the city, there are about 56 lakh vehicles.

Record one lakh commuters travel in Bengaluru Metro on Sunday

A record one-lakh commuters travelled in the air-conditioned metro rail coaches on Sunday – a day after the service was opened for public — on the 18.1km east-west corridor, with 4.8km through underground. “On the first Sunday, after the service was commenced on Saturday, around one-lakh people travelled on the route since morning (6 a.m.) till late night (11 p.m.) on both ways from Baiyappanhalli in the east to Mysuru Road in the west,” said a spokesperson of the state-run Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL).  It was ‘family day out’ ‘extended family day out’ and ‘babies day out’ along the underground Metro corridor on the first Sunday since its inauguration. A few working professionals also took a ‘test ride’ before their first trip to office by the Metro on Monday.

In a city dominated by private transport, Namma Metro on Sunday showed what it could be for thousands of travellers across the city, who shunned their vehicles to take a ride to the city centre.

One of the largest lung spaces in the city, the Cubbon Park, as well as the Vidhana Soudha and the Majestic saw a huge turnout of citizens, many of whom hitherto avoided coming for want of parking space, traffic, and the distance.

On the first day (Saturday) of the new service, about 93,500 commuters hopped onto the metro on both the routes, boarding at one of the 17 stations, with majority of them alighting at Majestic or MG Road stations and returning to their destinations en-route.

Trains were jam-packed and Metro stations were overflowing with commuters throughout the day. Security staff could be seen hollering at kids ‘not go beyond the yellow line’. Children ran around trying to snatch the balloons put up at the stations for the inauguration.

A family of 20 members figured among those who enjoyed a Metro ride on Sunday. They had boarded a train in the evening from Halasuru to Kempe Gowda Metro station. Muniraju, a retired employee from KGF, was seen shepherding the group comprising his wife, son, three sisters, three brothers and grandchildren.

“I wanted everyone in my family to travel by the underground corridor. So, we took this short trip,” he said.

His relative Rajiv, who works with a courier company, said, “The trip was very crowded both ways. The annual fair at Someshwara temple saw many travel from far away to Halasuru by Metro today,” he said.

Rayappa Praveen had taken the trip from Indiranagar to Sir M Visvesvaraya Metro station along with his wife Leena to assess the travel time from his house to office. “It took me just 15 minutes via Metro whereas the trip by road would take nearly 45 minutes. The trip was very good,” he said. Leena interrupted to add, “Must say it was a very comfortable ride, particularly the air-conditioned atmosphere. Felt really soothing.

Meanwhile, R Nandini was noticed expressing her disgust to her husband V Prasanna over the fresh paan stains that had defaced the wall near the escalators at Sir M Visvesvaraya station. “As a nation, we do not have a sense of ownership about public property. Why else would anyone do this?” she said aloud.

However, she was all praise for the trip. The couple reside in BCC Layout near Nayandahalli and she works as a cashier at Oriental Insurance Company near the BBMP office.

“I walked 1 km from my house to the Mysuru  Road station and we took a train to Sir M Visvesvaraya station. My office is less than 1 km from here and I can walk that distance too. This will definitely improve my health,” she added.

Charan Sathvik took the trip for the sake of his baby, Aditi, to simply look around. “The crowd was too much and we had to travel standing throughout the underground corridor,” he said. His wife Neetu intervened to say, “Despite that, we loved it. For, we only needed to stand for up to 10 minutes.”

The Cubbon Park Metro station was particularly crowded as many chose to visit the park from various locations for a family outing.

On metro’s debut in October 2011, about 85,000 people commuted between MG Road and Baiyappanhalli stations, the first 8km of the 42.3km first phase, including the 24.2km north-south corridor, which is in the final stages of completion.

“About 120 trips were made today (Sunday) as against 115 trips on Saturday, increasing the frequency and reducing waiting time for the next service to eight minutes from 10-15 minutes during the non-peak hours,” BMRCL public relations officer U.A. Vasanth Rao said.

Taking a break from oppressive hot and humid weather in the city, several curious commuters, including women and young flocked to their nearest metro stations for a joy ride in the air-conditioned coaches from spick-and-span station.

“I took the metro from MG Road to Majestic with my friends in the evening for a joy ride. Although all the three coaches were crowded, it was fun,” said Radhika, 22, a financial analyst with an international audit firm.

As women had to jostle for space to even stand in the packed coaches with male commuters, some of them told that the operator should have a separate coach for women and children to ensure their safety and security.

The actual impact of the belated service, bogged by delays and cost escalation, will be known from Monday to Friday and if the service reduces air pollution and minimises traffic snarls across the city’s thoroughfares.

Include Varthur Road in Metro Phase 3, say Whitefielders

With the announcement of feasibility study for Namma Metro Phase 3, citizens have started putting forth requests for inclusion of certain areas under the proposed project. In fact some have started a petition demanding extension of metro from Marathahalli Bridge to Varthur Road and beyond, as it will help in taking pressure off the roads.

Whitefield is now home to hundreds of industries, IT parks, malls, international schools, hospitals and residential spaces and is linked to the city by two roads – Old Airport Road and Old Madras Road. Both these road traffic gridlocks, especially during peak hours, and hence there is a need to introduce alternate modes of transport such as metro and suburban trains.

In his petition Jerin M. Jose said, “It is well known that Marathahalli Bridge and Kundalahalli signal are major choke points on this route. If the metro could be extended from Marathahalli to Varthur Kodi and beyond, it would provide a major boost to connectivity on Varthur Road.

Of late the Varthur-Gunjur stretch is turning into a major residential hotspot. By the time phase 3 begins, the traffic on this stretch would increase manifolds with Varthur road and Panathur road providing the only exit options. A metro rail route on this stretch will benefit a large number of residents along Varthur road and help in taking out a lot of vehicles off the road.”

Jerin is not alone, many people who commute on this route feel the same. Ravi Gopal, an IT professional, pointed out, “Most of the people take the Varthur Road and this creates huge traffic gridlocks. Even to travel half kilometre, it sometimes takes one hour. We need metro as soon as possible.”

Voicing a similar opinion another commuter Kuljeet Singh said, “The authorities should have planned metro in this stretch under Phase 2 itself, but even if they do it under phase 3 it will be welcome.”

Abdul Rahim, who was in the city with his wife Yufsia and two children to take metro ride said, “I live in Dubai and my family lives in Kerala. We came here on a holiday and got to know about the metro’s underground line inauguration and chose to experience it. I must say the infrastructure provided here is very similar to Dubai. Excellent experience.”

Essa who works in Vasanth Nagar also came with his family and children to experience the ride. His son Kaif (13) said, “It is very joyful and this is my first metro ride. I am enjoying it.”

“Most of them were asking for a ticket to the last stop either Baiyappanahalli or Mysuru road. They just wanted to experience metro ride especially the underground stretch.

“Our family could travel by car earlier but it was just too far and too much hassle. Now, we just have to get into a train and get out at the park within 20 minutes,” said Lokesh Gowda, who stays in Vijayanagar and visited the park with his family on Sunday.

Even the Vidhana Soudha, which is normally deserted on Sundays, was full of people wanting to see the building after the barricades were removed.

Photographers, who usually have only some tourists visiting on Sundays, wore happy smiles on their faces as visitors flocked to the monument and lined up to get their pictures taken.

Cubbon Park in particular witnessed huge crowds, the likes of which have not been seen in a long time.

“I do not remember the last time when it was this crowded on a holiday. This has not been the case, unless there was some function or event. This is just not a normal Sunday,” said B.R. Rao, a regular walker at the park.

Steep rise in ridership
The total ridership on east-west corridor on Saturday was 90,482 as against an average of 20,000-22,000 from MG Road to Byappanahalli and Magadi Road to Mysore Road.

The total revenue generated on the first day of the opening of the east-west corridor was Rs 35 lakh. As for the frequency, from 8 am to 2 pm it was one train every 10 minutes, from 2 pm to 8 pm it was eight minutes, from 8 pm to 8.30 pm it was 10 minutes and from 8.30 pm to 10 pm it was 15 minutes.

Cheaper than AC buses, cabs
The cost of the Metro is said to be cheaper than BMTC AC buses and cabs. The fares range from Rs 10 to Rs 40 from East to West. Krishna Reddy, a 64-year-old farmer, clad in his traditional attire said, “We are here to visit High Court for some work and we chose Metro as it is less time consuming and cheaper. I paid just Rs 13 to travel in the air conditioned Metro to reach here.”

Boon for Soudha, HC employees
BMRCL officials said that many High court and Vidhan Soudha employees, residing in Vijayanagar and Rajajinagar areas, took the metro to reach their offices on Saturday morning.

Wheelchairs for senior citizens
The BMRCL provides assistance to senior citizens as the staff have been trained to help those in need. Also, the metro stations are equipped with wheelchairs. “We have laid special tiles across the Metro station for blind which lead them directly to the platform from the entrance,” said a BMRCL official.

Elaborate checks
For those carrying a heavy baggage, the security checks would be time consuming. A passenger has to go through a metal detector, a security check and baggage have to be sent through the scanners.

Source:RailNews