Train services between Indiranagar and M.G. Road on the Purple Line of the metro, which was slated to resume on December 31, will now be restored only the next day.
While this will affect office-goers, who rely on the line for faster commute, it may also have an impact on thousands of revellers who gather at M.G. Road for the New Year celebrations there.
The stretch was closed at 8 p.m. on December 28 for repairing a “honeycomb formation”(concrete distress) which was discovered on one of the pillars near Trinity Metro station.
Ajay Seth, Managing Director of BMRCL, said maintenance work was completed late on Sunday night, but restoration of track, signalling and testing of the system will be done on Monday. “These are works that can be taken up only after maintenance work. So, a decision was taken to extend the partial shutdown of services for one more day,” he said.
Services from M.G. Road to Mysuru Road and Indiranagar to Baiyappanahalli, and on the Green Line will be operational till 2 a.m.
This delay in throwing open the line will cascade into the preparation for the New Year celebrations at Brigade Road and M.G. Road, as metro services were scheduled to run till 2 a.m. to ensure revellers can travel out of the busy areas where vehicular movement has been barred.
The BMRCL has been operating additional services ever since it started its operation on Purple Line since October 2011.
“Ever since, the BMRCL stopped operations in the stretch, it has become difficult to commute,” said Deivendra Kumar, a software engineer, working at Indiranagar.
Another passenger Manoj Kumar, a student from Indiranagar said, “I normally use metro for my daily travels because it is saves time and help to avoid traffic. Disruption in services forced people to spend more time in the traffic. Everyone thought, the BMRCL would resume services on the entire line on December 31 and it is very sad that the it is taking more time.”
Fazil Rahman, working as a private company employee said the delay will put revellers at the mercy of autorickshaw and cab drivers, and with the demand, prices will shoot up.
