Metro ridership can go from 4 lakh to 15 lakh by 2030, says IISc. report

‘For this, BMRCL needs to build Inner Ring Metro Corridor’

A study by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) has revealed that if Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) builds an Inner Ring Metro Corridor, the ridership for Namma Metro will increase significantly. If implemented, the number of people using the metro will increase from 3.9 lakh per day to 15.22 lakh a day by 2030. On the other hand, without an inner ring metro corridor, by 2030, Namma Metro (Phases 1, 2, 2A and 2B) will see a ridership of a little over 8 lakh.

IISc. had earlier proposed to the State government to consider building an inner ring metro corridor that connects core areas of the city such as Mehkri Circle, Ulsoor, Domlur, Ejipura, Dairy Circle, NIMHANS, Lalbagh, K.R. Market, Vijayanagar, and Rajajinagar. To achieve its potential, the proposed inner ring metro (IRM) has to be connected to existing, under-construction and sanctioned Namma Metro lines. IISc. had also suggested that it should be a tunnel network.

The proposed IRM constitutes 23 new stations and has six interchanges, with a total length of 34 km. Ashish Verma, Associate Professor, Transportation Systems Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, IISc., said, “Any circular city in the world, which has good public transport, has both radial and ring lines. Bengaluru, too, needs such inner ring metro corridors. At present, the whole inner part of the city is left out. Considering this, we had proposed the plan to the government, and BMRCL had asked us to come out with an evaluation.”

The study indicates that in addition to increased metro ridership to 15 lakh, the proposed network will help reduce fuel consumption. Emission rate will come down as people will shift to public transport.

If the IRM becomes a reality, it will increase the metro network to 207 km with 148 stations and 13 interchanges spread across the city. The study states that by 2030, the maximum ridership across the network – 48,425 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd) – will be between Whitefield and Ujjwal stations.

The maximum ridership on the IRM line is estimated to be 33,016 pphpd between Hosahalli and Padarayanapura stations. The ridership between Sandal Soap Factory station and IISc. station is projected at 24,477 pphpd in 2030.