If you are a regular commuter on Namma Metro's Purple Line, chances are that you would have noticed trains with green livery (colour scheme) operating between Baiyappanahalli and Mysuru Road. That is because Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) is deploying trains from the Green Line to handle the rush on the Purple Line with the passenger count increasing by around 3,000 every day.
Currently, BMRCL operates 50 trains on both lines. After completion of Phase I, the average ridership has gone up from around 2 lakh to 3.20 lakh in less than one month. The Purple Line ferries close to 1.85 lakh passengers daily, officials said. “We have shifted a few Green Line trains to the Purple Line to handle the additional load. Since completion of Phase I and linking of the two lines, we have been studying commuter movement patterns and fine tuning the system to find the optimal operating pattern. If these trains continue to be deployed on the Purple Line, their livery will be changed,” a senior BMRCL official said. Already, two trains are in the process of being converted to Purple Line trains.
Another reason for the shift of trains is the difference in frequency in the two corridors. The frequency of trains on the Purple Line is higher. Hence, the need for more trains.
“The tracks on the recently opened section of the Green Line are yet to stabilise. Once that happens, we can run trains with a frequency of up to one every 3 minutes,” the official said. On the Purple Line, there is a train every four minutes during peak hours. The corresponding figure on the Green Line is six minutes.
New parking spaces soon
Faced with increasing demand for additional parking space at the Mysuru Road metro station, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. has called tenders for providing space for an additional 520 two-wheelers and 70 cars. The current parking lot, Namma Metro's biggest, has space for 1,700 two-wheelers and 240 cars.
However, commuters complain that it is not enough.
In addition to Mysuru Road, parking lots will come up at the R.V. Road Metro Station and the Banashankari Metro station as well.
These parking lots are expected to be operational by the end of August.
