Bangalore Metro roll into city's heart today amid fanfare

Bangalore, Oct 20: With Namma Metro setting off on its maiden journey to the hearts of Bangaloreans today (Oct 20), the early Diwali gift though late, has finally arrived to ease the locals from traffic woes. The country's hotshot IT destination and India's Silicon Valley will now have it's very own Metro service that is the most anticipated news the Garden City residents have been waiting for.

The first phase of the Metro train service was flagged off today (Oct 20). Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) managing director N. Sivasailam in a statement said, "The first phase (Reach-1) of the Namma Metro service will commence operations Thursday evening from 4 p.m. after Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath flags off the inaugural run earlier in the day."

The Reach-1 of the train service was completed at a revised cost of Rs.11,609-crore and will run between the stretch of MG Road station and Byappanahalli in the eastern suburb. The stretch on elevated tracks will cover 6.7 km and will have four stations in between.

Sivasailam added, "We have invested about Rs.4,000 crore so far in the project, including Rs.360 crore on civil works. We will operate four trains of three coaches in both directions with 10-15 minutes frequency from morning till late night to make 45 trips to ferry about 1,000 commuters on each trip."

In spite of the delays in the project, the latest Metro ride will make shopping destinations of MG Road and Indira Nagar more accessible to those living in the suburbs, especially those working in the IT sector. With fares of Rs 15 and Rs 10 for the journey across the six stations, the fact that the tickets are not heavy on the pockets is also a welcome change from the autorickshaws that ply on Bangalore roads fleecing passengers.

BMRC officials stated that the three-carriage metro will be able to carry a total of 1,000 passengers per trip with the trains running at 10-minute intervals during peak hours and on 15-minute intervals at other times.

With many do's and don'ts in place, the most relevant is that passengers and others will not be able loiter in the swanky metro stations and can remain in the stations for a maximum of only 20 minutes. This will be ensured by the 24 * 7 camera surveillance. The other rule is that the BMRCL intends to impose a fine of Rs 1000 for littering the premises.

OneIndia News