A day after inaugurating the Purple Line extension up to Kengeri, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) started commercial operations on the 7.5-km stretch on August 30. At Kengeri station, the fist passenger was greeted with a rose by metro staff.
Opening of the line has come as a big relief for people living close to Mysuru Road.
Anusha, a student of Rajarajeshwari Dental College, said, "I am a resident of Malleswaram. Earlier, I used to travel till Mysuru Road station after changing trains at Majestic. After getting down there, I used take an auto till the college, which costs anywhere between ₹150 and ₹200. Now, my travel cost will substantially come down due to opening of the metro line."
Ankit Kumar, a student of ACS College of Engineering, said, "I have been wanting this line to open for more than a year. Earlier, I was using city buses to travel to Majestic or visit Gopalan Mall on Mysuru Road. Metro is more convenient and saves time. Once Challaghatta metro station becomes operational, thousands of students studying in various colleges here will be benefited."
Rame Gowda, a retired government official and resident of RR Nagar, said, "I have been waiting for the metro to open. I took a feeder service from RR Nagar bus depot and got down at the RR Nagar Arch. It was very convenient. Thousands of residents will benefit from the service."
The BMRCL is running trains with a frequency of 10 minutes from Kengeri towards Baiyappanahalli. The fare between the two stations is ₹56, while passengers using smart cards will get a discount of 5%.
Prior to opening the extended stretch, BMRCL had estimated that project will benefit 75,000 people from several layouts and residential complexes located close to the new metro stations. People commuting on a daily basis to Global Tech Village, Bengaluru University, R.V. College and other educational institutions are likely to shift to the metro as their mode of transport in the coming days.
Regular users of suburban trains have demanded an foot-over-bridge (FoB) to link Jnanabharathi metro station with the railway halt station. Work on linking of Traffic and Transit Management Centre (TTMC) of BMTC with Kengeri metro station will be taken up in the coming days. At the same location, BMRCL is building a FoB to enable people to cross the busy road.
BMRCL expects 75,000 passengers to use the service every day.
