Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said on Sunday that at least two of the trains will have six coaches by the end of this year.
Presently, 50 trains with 3 coaches each are operational. The New Indian Express reports that while 2 trains will get six coaches by December this year, the rest of the trains will also be fitted with additional coaches by March next year.
MD Pradeep was speaking to reporters after a team including Bengaluru Development Minister KJ George inspected the North-South corridor on Sunday.
“Bharat Earthmovers Ltd (BEML) has assured us that they would get ready at least six cars by December by assembling many of the spare parts of Metro. There is a possibility of having a ladies coach in trains with six cars,” he said.
A reserved coach for ladies have been a long pending demand for a couple of years now.
Earlier on June 6, Minister KJ George had said that the government has awarded a tender to BEML to supply 150 coaches and is spending more than Rs 1400 Crore for this purpose. He also assured that once the upgradation is done, it will pave way for a ladies coach in all trains.
The Minister's reply was in response to a question raised by Tiptur MLA Shadakshari, reported Bangalore Mirror.