Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) has decided to provide shuttle bus service between M.G. Road and Indiranagar metro stations on those days when it will partially suspend metro services on the Purple Line to carry out maintenance work near Trinity station. The facility will be available for free to metro passengers, said Ajay Seth, managing director of BMRCL, on Friday.
The BMRCL is preparing an action plan to fix a ‘honeycomb formation’ (concrete distress) on a beam near Trinity station, and is consulting experts from external agencies.
Operations are likely to be suspended next weekend (December 22 and 23) only between M.G. Road and Indiranagar. Mr. Seth said for the most part, maintenance work would be done at night. “Services will be curtailed only when it is absolutely necessary.” Generally, on weekends, metro ridership drops, he said. “Announcements will be made in advance to minimise the inconvenience,” he added.
The BMRCL claims that despite disruption in metro services, there was no drop in ridership on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, the ridership was 3.88 lakh, of which 2.02 lakh was on the Purple line. More than 3.81 lakh people travelled on Thursday, including 1.98 lakh on the Purple Line.
Though normal services have been restored, trains are running at a slower speed on the 260-m stretch between M.G. Road and Trinity stations.
Quality assurance tightened
For a better quality assurance, the BMRCL has reduced cast in situ segments for the construction of elevated metro corridors in the ongoing Phase II project. Cast in situ refers to construction material that is assembled or cast on site rather than in a factory.
“In terms of quality assurance, precast segments are better than cast in situ ones as they are done in a more controlled environment in a casting yard, where they are tested. If any component is found to be weak, it can be rejected. On the other hand, in situ segments are cast on site and become part of the project. If a weakness is found, correction becomes difficult,” said Ajay Seth, BMRCL managing director.
Piers being constructed for ongoing projects are wider than those used in Phase I and can support the cross beam directly, he said.
Mr. Seth, however, maintained that the changes had nothing to do with the ongoing issue of maintenance work near Trinity station.
A ‘problem’ was detected in 2012
This is not the first time the BMRCL has encountered issues in the area where the ‘honeycomb formation’ was detected on Sunday. In 2012, barely a year after reach I of the Purple Line between M.G. Road and Baiyappanahalli became operational in October 2011, a “problem” was detected at the same location. “We are unable to get what exactly was the problem, but it did not look like a honeycomb formation,” said Mr. Seth, when questioned about the nature of the problem.
Reacting to a question on whether the corporation would be taking action against the contractor who executed the project and the then supervisory staff of the BMRCL, Mr. Seth said, “At this point in time, our focus is on fixing the existing problem by finding a permanent solution.”
