BENGALURU: Owing to the weekend curfew announced by the Karnataka government, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) will be reducing hours of Metro operations and the frequency of trains for the next two weekends. To keep a check on the spread of COVID-19 through Metro passengers, BMRCL has intensified checks with homeguards checking public onboard trains too for not wearing masks properly and not merely at platforms since Monday (January 3).
An official release said that Metro train operational hours are revised on Saturdays and Sundays. “On these days, there will be Metro train services commencing at 8 am from the terminal stations of Nagasandra, Silk Institute, Kengeri and Baiyappanahalli and will be operated till 9 pm with a frequency of 20 minutes. The last Metro station will be at 9 pm from all the terminal stations. This will be effective till the curfew is in force.”
From Monday to Thursday, operations will be normal and train services will run from 5 am to 11 pm with reduced frequency during the last one hour. On Fridays alone, train services will be closed one hour early, at 10 pm instead of 11 pm.
Surveillance intensified
BMRCL Managing Director Anjum Parwez told TNIE that checks on commuters for not wearing masks properly have intensified by deploying more home guards on the job. “Earlier, checks and fines were imposed on violators only on our platforms. Now, intense checks are being done inside the bogies of trains,” he said.
A S Shankar, Executive Director, Operations and Maintenance, BMRCL also said that surveillance has been intensified. He ruled out any dip in ridership the last two days owing to the rapid increase in COVID cases in Bengaluru. “We had 3.28 lakh riders on Tuesday and 3.47 lakh on Monday,” he said.
Parwez said that ridership was averaging between 3 lakh and 3.5 lakh of late and that trend continues.