BENGALURU: The much awaited six coach train of Namma Metro was flagged off by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday evening at 6.11 PM.
The train, which left from platform number 3 of Byappanahalli Metro station travelled till the Kempegowda Metro Station where passengers were allowed to board the train up to Mysuru road on the Purple Line.
Over the next one and half years, all three coach trains of Namma Metro will be converted to six coach trains leaving passengers breathing a sigh of relief as the current configuration is usually overcrowded in the rush hours. An entire coach will be reserved exclusively for women passengers.
The new coaches have been operationalised after a series of preparations, tests, trials, and certification and can operate up to a maximum speed of 80 km per hour.
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"The new coaches also have improved features for safety, energy saving, ease of maintenance and for commercial development," a statement from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) said. Ridership has surged in the past one year since the entire Phase 1 was declared open for operations.
The 4 lakh passenger mark is being breached regularly and with the addition of the new coaches, this is expected to increase. On Friday evening, Kumaraswamy was joined by Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara and Union Minister of State Hardeep S Puri for the maiden run.