BENGALURU: Nearly 19 months after they were shut, Platforms 1 & 2 of Baiyappanahalli Metro Station will be thrown open to the public. The only platform operational at present, PF 3, will be used to run short loop trains as well as dispatch trains to the depot for stabling.
A S Shankar, Executive Director, Operations and Maintenance, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, told TNIE, “The tracks for both the platforms have been tested and kept ready. The platforms were closed on March 2, 2022, and will be opened to the public when the KR Pura-Baiyappanahalli stretch is commissioned. PF 1 will be used to operate trains heading towards Kadugodi (Whitefield) while PF 2 will be used for trains coming from Kadugodi.”
The bridge put up above the platforms has been dismantled, all tests concluded successfully and the tracks are ready to run trains.
Another senior official said the platforms had to be closed to carry out signalling, traction and electrical works of the tracks running along them. “The railway tracks ended here and non-ballast tracks need to be laid to extend the line till Whitefield. We also had to put in place turn-out lines (where tracks branch out), required when trains switch tracks,” he said.
The purchase of National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) has picked up momentum, with around 400 new cards purchased daily, Shankar said. “Anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 Metro commuters use the Mobility Cards for Metro travel daily. The daily average ridership is 6.36 lakh passengers,” he said. A top BMTC official said that due to the free bus scheme for women, this segment of potential NCMC card users will not buy them as they no longer need them for bus travel.
“The card can be used in Metro networks and buses across the country, not merely BMTC. It can also be used to purchase groceries and other items. Even assuming only one-half of BMTC travellers purchase it, it would still be a very huge number,” Shankar said.
LINE INSPECTION TOMORROW
The Commissioner of Metro Railway Safety, Southern Circle, will inspect the K R Pura-Baiyappanahalli stretch. Metro services will be impacted between KR Pura and Garudacharpalya, and Baiyappanahali and Indiranagar on Thursday.