BENGALURU: Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, speaking in the Parliament on Wednesday, flagged the steep hike in Metro fares and slammed the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) for not publishing the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) report. He urged Speaker Om Birla to instruct BMRCL through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to immediately publish the FFC report.
Speaking during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Surya said, “About four months ago (in February), BMRCL hiked the Metro fare by almost 130%. Public transport services must be affordable to the common man. This hike has resulted in steep reduction in the ridership as well.”
“Despite multiple requests over the last few months, BMRCL has not made the (FFC) report public yet. This is a democracy and in a democracy, riders deserve to know the basis of the fare hike,” Surya said.
Surya said the Metro fares in Bengaluru are the highest in the country with rides above 25 km priced at Rs 90. “Following public outcry, the BMRCL rationalised the fare structure up to a 71% hike but the fares are still hampering Metro ridership,” he said.
In his Zero Hour intervention, Surya also called for the early operationalisation of the Metro Yellow Line, stating that Bengaluru is India’s economic engine and is suffering from a big infrastructure deficit and the only way that traffic congestion can be addressed is through expedited Metro expansion and advancing public transport systems.
He requested the MoHUA to expedite the opening of the Yellow Line and that it is expected to have an eight-lakh ridership.
Surya also urged the MoHUA to expedite the approval for the Metro Red Line, which is awaiting the Union cabinet approval. The Red Line or Phase 3A of Namma Metro is a 36.59-km corridor which will link Sarjapur in the southeast to Hebbal in the north.