After the initial euphoria, Namma Metro Reach 1 between Byappanahalli and Mahatma Gandhi Road stations appears to have remained only a tourist attraction that gets filled up during Saturdays and Sundays.
While quite a few people make use of Namma Metro during morning and evening peak hours, the coaches look almost empty during off-peak hours. During a reality-check by The Hindu , it was found that hardly 40 to 50 people travelled by Namma Metro at a time during off-peak hours.
Ankur Tyagi, a native of Delhi working in Bangalore, said Namma Metro is less crowded when compared with Delhi Metro.
Mr. Tyagi suggested that the authorities concerned should increase the operation of Metro Feeder bus services if an increase in ridership is to be achieved.
One of the security guards, who was keeping passengers away from the yellow line at the Mahatma Gandhi Road Metro Station, said, “The station and trains witness rush only during weekends. The rush would be moderate during morning and evening peak hours during weekdays.”
Dost Mohammed, a student waiting for a train at the Mahatma Gandhi Road Metro Station said, “Bangalore being the IT-hub and the fastest growing city, needs a faster public transport system. Authorities should work fast on metro here so that the end-to-end connectivity is completely established.”
BMRCL authorities, however, said that expecting heavy rush throughout the day on Namma Metro would be too premature at this stage when only Reach 1 has been commissioned.
Unless the entire 42-km route network of Namma Metro Phase I, comprising East-West and North-South Corridors is complete, one cannot expect a large number of people making use of the facility, a senior BMRCL official said.
BMRCL General Manager (Finance) U.A. Vasanth Rao told The Hindu that Bangalore is not an exception to operate metro on a short distance in the initial stages of the project's commissioning and pointed out that such a practice is observed worldwide.
“By operating Namma Metro on Reach 1, we are not only getting ourselves acquainted with the working of metro, but also educating the general public about metro etiquettes,” he said.
