The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation has said that Namma Metro will ply from 7 am to 6 pm from July 1. The BMRCL, in a statement dated June 30, said that the metro will operate at a frequency of five minutes in peak hours and at a 15-minute interval in non-peak hours from Monday to Friday. However, depending on the patronage, services will be operated with increased or decreased frequency. The services will remain unavailable on Saturdays and Sundays on account of the weekend curfew, the BMRCL added.
From July 1, ticket tokens will also be available for single journeys along with smart card tickets. The BMRCL said that tokens will be available at ticket counters and can be bought using cash or QR codes at the counters. The tokens were discontinued amidst the pandemic to ensure contactless travel. Bengaluru metro resumed services from June 21 after the Karnataka government announced an easing of restrictions in the city. The trains were operated between 7 am to 11 am and 3 pm to 6 pm on weekdays with 50% seating capacity following the guidelines issued by the state government.
Passengers of Namma Metro were earlier permitted to travel only using smart cards. The passengers have to undergo thermal scanning at the entry of the metro station. The passengers have also been told to adhere to COVID-appropriate behaviour on the station premises and on the trains.
Karnataka, after a prolonged lockdown since April 27, began going for phased unlocking. On June 19, on the account of a drop in COVID-19 cases, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had announced the easing of restrictions in over 15 districts, which will remain in force till July 5. The Karnataka government had permitted state-run buses running alongside the metro services to ply, since June 21 with 50% seating capacity.