BENGALURU: There is some good news in store for Namma Metro passengers travelling during non-peak hours. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has increased the number of trips being operated during non-peak hours on both its Purple and Green lines from Monday. In the process, Namma Metro has smashed its own record by running more than 300 trips in a day. From running a train every 10 minutes between 11.30 am and 4 pm, BMRCL has now started operating a train every 8 minutes.
“On Monday and Tuesday, a total of 311 trips each day were operated — our highest for a day. While the Purple Line (Baiyappanahalli-Mysuru Road) saw 179 trips (up from 171 earlier), the Green Line (Nagasandra - Yelachenahalli) saw 132 trips (up from 125),” A S Shankar, Executive Director, Operations and Maintenance, BMRCL, told The New Indian Express.
As a result, the number of passengers on board crossed the 4-lakh mark on Monday and the revenue touched `1.15 crore — both highly impressive figures. “We brought down the gap between consecutive trains to 8 minutes from 10 minutes. This has been done to make passenger journeys more comfortable as we noticed congestion even during non-peak hours,” Shankar said. “We even heard passengers murmur that travelling inside a Namma Metro train felt like being inside a Mumbai commuter train,” he quipped. Asked about the impact the move has had, he said the coaches appeared slightly less jam packed on Monday and Tuesday.
On the possibility of running six-coach trains even during the non-peak hours, he said, “Reducing the waiting time between the three-coach trains is more than enough to manage the rush.”
The earnings on Monday stood at `1.15 crore. “This is the highest earning in the middle of a month. The highest earning though is `1.3 crore. Our fare revenue is usually very high in the first week when commuters recharge their Metro cards after getting their salaries,” he added.