A day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah launched Namma Metro services between Peenya Industry and Sampige Road (Reach 3 and 3A), hundreds of Bangaloreans flocked to the 10 new stations in the city.
The crowd consisted of young college students, children, middle aged men and women with children in their arms to old men and women, holding walking sticks. There were long queues at ticket counters were seen at Sampige Road and Peenya Industry stations. The queues were comparatively shorter at other stations.
Incomplete civil works at Peenya Industry and the Peenya stations were covered by huge paintings. Engineers at the spot said that work is likely to continue for at least another two months.
Even though the Byappanahalli to Mahatma Gandhi Road stretch (Reach 1) was opened in 2011, many passengers said that it was their maiden ride on the metro.
Aishwarya J., a class nine student, was among the passengers. She was accompanied by her brother Raghunath J. They plan to travel by metro for a week. “As soon as the launch was announced in the papers, we decided to travel on the first day. As I live near 8th mile on Tumkur Road and my school is in Rajajinagar, this stretch is very convenient for me,” she said. Asked if she would take the metro to school every day, she said, “I would love to if my father gives me Rs. 17 every day. Right now, I travel by bus, which is more economical as I have a student pass.”
Deepthi Tiwari, a second year B.Com student who lives in Srirampura, had rushed from college to the Sampige Road station to hop on to the metro. “Even though I have travelled on the M.G. Road stretch, this truly feels like Namma metro, as it is closer home.”
Another visibly excited passenger was D. Darshith, a three-year-old who was accompanied by his parents, “It is faster than the autorickshaw,” he exclaimed in a high pitched voice. He was enthralled by the high-rise buildings on either side of the route and the bird’s eye view of Peenya.
IssuedFrom 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., a total of 43,056 tickets were issued across 10 stations.
