In another ridership milestone, Namma Metro in Bengaluru transported 4.58 lakh (4,58, 238) people in a single day on Friday ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi, making it the busiest day for the public transport service.
This was higher than the previous record (4,52, 563) achieved just two weeks ago on the occasion of the annual and popular flower show held in Lal Bagh ahead of the Independence Day.
Incidentally, the highest ridership day in 2018 was also the pre-Independence Day week with the highest ridership coming on August 13 at 4.25 lakh (4,25,198).
Currently the city has two metro lines as part of phase 1 interconnected at the Majestic station. While the Green Line between Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli spans 24.22 km, the Purple Line between Byappanahalli-Mysore Road runs for 18.08 km.
The Bengaluru metro train service was inaugurated seven years ago. Only one train in the Green Line has six-car trains as of now -- all the other trains in this line run with three coaches. There has been a consistent demand from riders for newer six-car trains especially with crowds increasing during peak hours, as more passengers opt for the metro to travel in and out of the Central Business District.
BMRCL MD Ajay Seth had earlier said that all trains in the metro will be converted to six car trains only by March 2020. However activists closely following the matter wonder if the metro that has been prone to many delays will manage to stick to this deadline.
Speaking to TNM earlier, experts had that if the metro could convert all its trains into six-coach trains and operate with a three-minute headway, the designed capacity of the metro could double to 8 lakh passengers in a day . “A lot of investment has happened, but due to the lax approach of the BMRCL, it is not being utilised properly. They are delaying the acquisition of additional coaches, and connections to bus stops and railway stations are not being done making it easy to use,” Sanjeev Dhyamanavar had said.
While there is an issue of overcrowding, the metro faces instances of snags resulting in temporary stoppage of services. Incidentally on Saturday evening, there was an hour-long interruption on the Purple Line.
Due to this, passengers travelling from Baiyapannhali side were forced to get down at Vijayanagara and trains again went back at Baiyappanahalli from Vijayanagar.
BMRCL in a statement, said, “Due to a technical failure at Mysore Road station at 6.43pm, short loops services were done between Baiyappanahalli & Vijayanagar stations. Full services normalised at 7.38pm. Inconvenience caused is regretted."