BENGALURU: The New Year began on a grumpy note for a few commuters as they had to pay three to four times the regular fare on Sunday late night. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) had come up with a novel idea to introduce `50 tokens at MG Road, Trinity Circle and Cubbon Park Metro stations to clear the rush of revellers from these stations in any direction post 11 pm on New Year Eve. While the move helped many reach home late night after partying in Central Business District, some commuters were unhappy.
“Some passengers bound for Indiranagar and Baiyappanahalli from MG Road expressed their resentment over the hiked fare they had to pay,” said a top Metro official. While the regular fare from MG Road station to Indiranagar station works out to just `12.75, commuters heading along the same route after partying here for the New Year had to pay four times the fare of `50. Similarly, those heading to Baiyappanahalli from MG Road had to pay `50 instead of the regular `17 token fare.
According to Chief Public Relations Officer, BMRCL, UA Vasanth Rao, the overall ridership for the day (from 5 am of December 31, 2017 to 2 am of January 1, 2018) touched 3,25,869 commuters. The Purple Line (Baiyappanahalli to Mysuru Road) registered 1,69,216 riders while the Green Line touched 1,56,653 riders. This does not reveal any huge surge as the average number of commuters during the weekend is 3,05,835.
Over ridership figures not meeting the expectations, Rao said: “It is not the numbers that matters during such occasions, but to provide a reliable public transport facility to the community. With multi- modal transport now available at the stations, ppl will patronise Metro in the days to come. The ridership during the extended three hours stood at 31,116. The Purple Line had 20,886 riders while the Green Line had 10, 230 riders.
During the extended hours, on Purple Line, MG Road sold maximum 6,755 tokens; Baiyappanahalli 2,658 and Kempegowda station sold 2,324 tokens. On Green Line, the maximum ridership was witnessed at Banashankari (876), followed by Yelachenahalli (813) and Rajajinagar (776).
Executive Director of Operations and Maintenance, BMRCL, A S Shankar said overall revenue figures for the day stood at `98, 10, 591. “The Purple Line helped Metro earn `50,32,873 and the Green Line, `47, 77,718,” he said.
More frequent trains on Purple Line from today
Trains on the Purple Line will be run at a frequency of 3.5 minutes during peak hours from Tuesday onwards. There will be 10 additional trips on the Purple Line (Mysore Raod to Baiyappanahalli) from January 2, said an official release. The regular frequency on the Purple Line is 4 minutes. There will be three additional trips on the Green Line (Nagasandra to Yelachenahalli), which will continue to run at a six-minute frequency during peak hours. BMRCL has run trains with a 2-minute frequency on the Purple Line in the past only on certain occasions to clear the platform rush.