BENGALURU: Metro commuters were elated and relieved after two new stretches of Bengaluru Metro became operational early on Monday. After the dramatic announcement of its launch on Sunday, the maiden Metro train departed at 5 am on the extensions of Bengaluru Metro's Purple Line from Whitefield Kadugodi to Challaghatta as well as in the reverse direction. The maiden run along this 43.49-km stretch covered 37 stations in 93 minutes. The regular run is expected to take 11 minutes lesser.
The two new extensions of the East-West Corridor - 2.1 km between Baiyappanahalli and K R Pura and 2.05 km between Challaghatta and Kengeri became functional today. Two new stations, Benniganahalli and Challaghatta, were opened today.
Sleepless commuters who kept awake all night to board the first train were aplenty. TNIE met the public who boarded at both ends of the East-West corridor.
Sreejith S Pai, a software development manager at Oracle, is mighty relieved that he can easily visit his favourite Kashi Mutt in Malleshwaram. "I have gone there over 20 times recently. I used to take feeder bus and train and it was such a struggle. It will be really easy for me now. It was such a thrilling experience going over the Open Web Girder at Benniganahalli." He stressed that it was the power of social media which helped get the trains moving so quickly.
A couple, N Bhagya and KR Srinivas, say they have waited for six years for this day! They were on their way from Whitefield Kadugodi to Indira Nagar metro station. "We are extremely happy and wanted to see it for ourselves today. We will just have a coffee somewhere at Indira Nagar and return," the lady said.
Those who alighted at Challaghatta were mostly college students of the numerous educational institutions around the station. Most of them used to take an auto up to Kengeri Metro station, nearly 2 km away, to board a train. The new Metro station is at a walkable distance and makes it easy for them, many students said.
SM Laxmi, a second medical college student at Raja Rajeshwari Medical College said, "I used to spend Rs 80 by cab from Vijayanagar to Kengeri and then take a bus. Today, I spent Rs 26 only and travelled so comfortably."
The IT crowd is expected to offer enormous patronage for the Whitefield stretch. The average daily footfalls of 6.5 lakh on working days is expected to touch up to 7.5 lakh soon, said a Metro official.