BENGALURU: People from northern Bengaluru made good use of Namma Metro while buses stayed off the roads on Monday.
The ridership from Nagasandra to Mantri Square Sampige Station rose by nearly 30 per cent, hitting a high of 44,511 passengers on Monday.
The best ridership figure for the stretch, called the green line, was recorded on May 8 this year, with 45,808 passengers.
The East-West corridor from Mysuru Road to Byappanahalli showed a slight dip when compared to last Monday, despite a train being run every five minutes during peak hours.
“This was largely due to the absence of school and college commuters,” said U A Vasanth Rao, Chief Public Releations Officer, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation.
The green line (Nagasandra to Mantri Square Sampige Station), showing low occupancy since its launch, saw good crowds, thanks to the bus bandh.
Many regulars were taken aback to see the rush on Monday. Some commuters were first-timers while others were taking a joy ride. Last mile connectivity was a worry for a big number.
Varsha Shenoy, employed at a public sector unit, took the Metro to return home from work. She boarded the train at Mantri Square to reach the Mahalakshmi station. “No seats at all today. I travel regularly by the Metro and I see such a huge increase in passengers today,” she said.
Dr Harish Kumar, employed in a private hospital, agreed. He travels three to four times a month from Srirampuram to Peenya. “I have never seen the train so crowded,” he said.
Despite the absence of buses, A Almaz, S Manjula and V Mamta were keen to attend a friend’s birthday bash at Dasarahalli.
“We travel regularly by bus to college. Thanks to the Metro running today, we can make it to the party,” said Almaz.
It was the first ever Metro ride for Subash Kudari, who runs his own chartered firm, and his employee Chetana S V. “I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I had no idea so many people are actually using the Metro,” he said.
Deepak Dhingra, who arrived from Delhi on Monday morning, took a taxi from the airport to his office at Malleswaram. “From there, I took a Metro with all my baggage to reach Jalahalli. But from there, I will have to take an auto or cab to reach my house,” he told Express.
BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said, “The augmented operations will continue tomorrow.”
Namma Metro ran a train every five minutes from 5 pm to 9 pm. Services will be extended till 11 pm if required, the authorities said.