In what will be a boost to Bengaluru’s metro rail usage, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has converted two three-car trains to six-car trains on the Green Line (the Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli route) from Monday. With this, the number of six-car trains is now eight.
Out of the 18 trains plying the Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli route, the rest 10 are three-car. All 18 trains on the Purple line (Baiyappanahalli to Mysuru Road) are six-car trains.
Passengers plying the Green Line route have been complaining of crowding during peak hours as the capacity of the trains have only increased partially since the operations began, while all trains on the Purple Line have been converted to six-car trains.
Until June 2018, all Namma Metro trains plying in the city consisted of three coaches with a total capacity of 975 passengers at a given time. This caused a space crunch during peak hours. The six-car train, in comparison, can accommodate as many as 2,000 passengers.
The six-car trains are expected to ease the rush hour journeys. The first compartment is reserved for women in all six-car trains. This additional capacity is also expected to increase the average daily ridership of the Bengaluru metro, which is now at around 4.54 lakh across the Purple and Green Lines.
While the Green Line between Nagasandra and Yelachenahalli spans 24.22 km, the Purple Line between Baiyyappanahalli and Mysore Road runs for 18.08 km. However, ridership has been consistently higher for the Purple Line than the Green Line.
Recently, the metro had reached its highest ridership on the eve of Deepavali when more than 4.83 lakh people used the metro. Out of these, the Purple Line recorded 2.63 lakh passengers, while the Green Line saw 2.19 lakh passengers.
By March 2020, the metro rail authority is expecting to ready 50 six-car trains for the two lines together.