After multiple complaints from customers that the metro services begin too late on Sundays, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has decided to start metro services an hour early.
According to BMRCL PRO Chavan, Metro services will begin at 7 am on Sundays instead of 8 am from January 13 (Sunday) onwards.
After the green line became operational, the commuter traffic at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station had increased as it is the intersection between the Green and Purple lines. The number of outstation commuters who arrive in Bengaluru via train were also increasingly taking the metro for commute, which is why the timings have been pushed back an hour, BMRCL officials say.
"A lot of passengers felt that 8 am is too late to start the metro services on a Sunday. There were lots of requests to begin train services at 5 am itself so it would be convenient for outstation passengers and even daily commuters. However, 5 am seems too early on a Sunday, so we decided to go start train services an hour early," a BMRCL official said.
Sources also say that BMRCL hopes to recover the losses it incurred when the purple line was stopped partially for four days when a pillar near Trinity Station was damaged. "The recent delays in the metro due to repairs, had also resulted in commuters becoming angry. We were getting lots of emails about better time management. So this was a necessary step," the official added.