CHENNAI: The increasing ridership has drawn the attention of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL), which is now working out a plan to increase the frequency of trains during busy hours.
While the exercise has been carried out in the past as well, this time around BMRCL is considering running the trains at a frequency of three minutes to beat the rush.
“We are also taking trains from the Green Line and running them on the Purple Line, which sees more ridership. Short loop services are also being increased to deal with the rush between two major stations,” a senior BMRCL official said.
The first set of three coaches, supplied to BMRCL by Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), will be delivered by January-end and it will take a little more than a month-and-a-half before it can be put into operation, the official added.
“The coaches will have to be tested and clearance will be required before they are made operational. However, they will help ease the situation once in place. Till then, the frequency will be increased from 3.5 minutes to three minutes and more trains will be put on routes where the rush is significant,” the official said.
BMRCL is expected to announce a change in frequency in the coming week. On Twitter, Namma Metro’s account had recently shared that five additional trips were operated last Friday to deal with the surge in ridership. This is likely to be the same at least till the three coaches are fitted to every train.