It has been less than 10 days since the opening of two missing links along the Purple Line in Bengaluru’s Namma Metro that completed the Whitefield-Challaghatta corridor. Since then, there has been a sudden increase in footfall, raising the demand for more trains.
According to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), two tenders for 390 Standard Gauge Metro Cars are under evaluation. However, these trains are for upcoming routes and not existing.
BMRCL Managing Director Anjum Parvez told News18 they will not run any new trains on the Purple Line in the near future, however, the crowd will be managed by short-loop trains that will not cover the entire stretch but only where the footfall is high.
“Now, the number of footfall has increased suddenly because of the starting of Krishnarajapura-Baiyappanahalli and Kengeri-Challaghatta sections. It has added 60,000-70,000 passengers,” he said.
Parvez said BMRC has 57 train sets and all are in operation.
“(Despite the extension) We have maintained the frequency which was earlier decided,” he said.
He explained that they are managing the additional crowd by running the short-loop trains. These trains do not cover the entire stretch but a small section only.
“We have the highest footfall between Majestic and Mahatma Gandhi Road. This is the most crowded section. There we are running the trains in short loops. These trains start at Majestic stations and end at MG Road and come back. The trains are running at a frequency of three minutes during the peak hours. That way we are managing the crowd,” he told News18.
On procuring new train sets, he said in the existing routes there is no shortage of trains and the new orders are for upcoming routes.
“We are in the process of buying new trains. These trains will be for the new routes that will start in the future. We have placed the order. But for the existing routes, there is no problem as such. We have enough trains,” he added.
The 1994 batch IAS officer added that they will be getting a new prototype of a train next month.
“Next month, we will be getting the first prototype of a train. It will be tested and approved by us before it can go for production. Once into production, we can expect three-four trains in a month,” he added.
Sudden Rise in Footfall
Explaining the rise, he said so far, the average footfall on the Purple line is 6.3-6.4 lakh. But now it is more than 7 lakh after the seamless direct link between Challaghatta and Whitefield. The nearly 44 km Purple Line, with 37 stations, allows to complete the journey in 76 minutes for Rs 60.
By road, the journey takes around 1.30 hours to 2.30 hours depending upon the traffic.
On October 11, the ridership crossed the seven-lakh mark and has been more than that since then. On Monday, it was 7.25 lakh.
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