BENGALURU: As the digital display board at Platform 2 at the new terminal station of the Green Line, turned 7 am, the first commercial Metro service kickstarted along the first line declared open in Bengaluru Metro's Phase-II. There were ten passengers on board the first train along with two senior Metro staffers inside.
Trains starting from Silk Institute would now touch upto the last station of Phase-I i.e. Nagasandra, a distance of 30.49 kms, after covering the 6.29-km line upto Yelachenahalli declared open on Thursday.
Five people were spotted waiting at the entrance of the Silk Institute station around 6.40 am awaiting permission to be let inside. Among them was Guruprasad Rao, a delighted IT entrepreneur who resides very close to the station, went to the extent of calling the new service 'a life saver.'
He told The New Indian Express, "I have been waiting for this dream to come true for many, many years now and am thankful to the Government of Karnataka, BMRCL and the Government of India for making this happen finally. This train is a very critical need for me as I telecommute and try to do a bit of my work sitting inside the Metro."
Stating that he had been going upto the Nayandahalli Metro station all along, parking his vehicle there and taking a Metro train, he added, "This is an absolutely life saving facility for all of us.... My only request is let the parking lot brought to a functional state as quickly as possible."
Harshitha, an M.Sc student, was also there with her father Nagaraj. He said, "My daughter has to go to Chikkaballapura. She used to go up to Majestic and then board the bus from there. But thanks to Metro opening up here now, it will now take her only 30 minutes to do the same. It is a very big help for us."
Anusha Ravishankar, an engineer at BEL was spotted enjoying her first ride with a novel in hand. She boarded the train Dodakallasandra and is pleased that she can spend a little more time catching up on sleep now.
"It is always a pleasure to travel by Metro. Previously I used to board at Yelachenahalli. Now that it is closer to my place, here is that convenience now for me to get up late and then come late," she told The New Indian Express. However, her father still dropped her at the new Metro station by car though it is pretty close by, she added.
Tanya, an M.Sc student said, "I have travelled by Metro before and this new station (Thalaghattapura) that has opened near my house is only 1 km away. It is nice that we have a Metro station that is close by. It is just like all other Metro stations which are well maintained, hygienic and secure.
first trip at the enroute stations of the new line at Konanakunte Cross, Doddakallasandra, Vajarahalli, Thalaghattapura and Silk Institute.
Passengers explained on how till yesterday they had to commute upto Yelachenahalli by personal vehicles and then head to their respective offices. The huge saving of time in the morning was an aspect repeatedly mentioned by them.
BMRCL's Director of Systems, RM Dhoke and Senior Security Officer, MKT Selvam interacted with passengers to get their feedback on the service.