BMRCL’s decision to reduce the frequency of Namma Metro to once every 15 minutes and start services from 8 am instead of 5 am on Sundays has not gone down well with commuters. Among the worst affected are those leaving Bengaluru early using long distance transport. When every other mode of urban transport runs almost round-the-clock, the delay in the Metro’s running schedule by three hours in the morning, has come in for some harsh criticism, reports Ranjani Madhavan.
The BMRCL’s decision to reduce the frequency of the Metro rail to once every 15 minutes and start the service from 8 am instead of 5 am on Sundays has not gone down well with commuters. Although only one Sunday has gone by since the announcement of the decision, passengers are already complaining about the inconvenience caused. Worst affected are those leaving Bengaluru early using long distance transport, who rely on the Metro rail to reach it. When every other mode of urban transport be it autos, cabs, trains, flights or buses runs almost round -the- clock, the delay in the Metro’s running schedule by three hours in the morning, has come in for some harsh criticism.
Trains
Commuters are unwilling to accept the justification that fewer people travel by the Metro on Sundays for the cut in frequency of its trains and the late start to its service. They point out that a large number of vacationers use the 42.3 km Metro network even before the sun rises on Sundays.
Also, Mr Lokesh, a member of The Karnataka Railway Vedike, notes that passengers are hurrying to catch other trains that start early in the day even on weekends and often use the Metro to get to them.
“There are plenty of trains that leave the Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (Majestic) Station and the Yeshwanthpur Railway Station as early as 6 in the morning. There is a train almost every 15 minutes on Sunday morning from both these railway stations. There is the Shatabdi Express leaving KSR for Chennai at 6 am, followed by the Bengaluru- Coimbatore Intercity Express at 6:15 am, Lalbagh at 6:30am, and passenger trains to Salem at 7: 15 am. Since it is the weekend, people get time to travel, see relatives, and attend functions and marriages. Those leaving the city quite often rely on the Metro to get to their long distance trains as they can take their luggage along as well on it," he says.
Observing that the Yeshwanthpur Railway Station is right opposite the Metro Station on the Green Line, he says passengers also take the train from here to Shivamogga and Hubballi at 6:30 am. “The Mangluru train starts at 7: 15am. When it takes only 13 minutes on the Metro to go from Jayanagar to Majestic, people will obviously prefer to take it to get to the railway station, instead of driving," he contends, making a strong case for the Metro to begin its service at 5 am on Sundays like on week days.
KSRTC, private buses & BMTC
Commuters heading for inter-city buses are also inconvenienced by the late start to the Metro rail services on Sundays . With the KSRTC bus stand being right next to the West Metro entrance, most find it easy to carry their suitcases a few meters down the road to board a bus to an out- of -town destination.
Private bus services too stop at the Majestic to take passengers to Chennai as early as 5:25 am, while some make a stop near the Indiranagar Metro station at 5:30am to pick up more of them. Other bus services to destinations like Mumbai and Pune go by almost all the Green Line Metro stations along the Bengaluru-Mumbai Highway and Tumkur Main Road. Several pick up passengers near Rajajinagar, Yeshwanthpur, Peenya, and the Goraguntepalya Metro stations on the North Side and in Jayanagar in the South.
Several pick up passengers near Rajajinagar, Yeshwanthpur, Peenya, and the Goraguntepalya Metro stations on the North Side and in Jayanagar in the South.
While passengers find it easy to hop on to these long distance buses arriving by the Metro on weekdays, they are now being deprived of this convenience on Sundays. Along with the Metro, the BMTC, which starts its service as early as 3:30 am and ends it as late as 1:10 am, is most in demand among commuters heading for the long distance buses as autos are known to fleece them and private cabs demand a surcharge early mornings and late nights. These commuters are now wearing long faces owing to the late Metro service on Sundays.
While the BMRCL admits that women passengers were groped on its trains in the past and pickpockets harassed others, it claims tighter security has done away with both. " Earlier there were cases of pickpockets on trains or of someone trying to misbehave with women. But now there are 60 to 70 CCTV cameras and 40 security guards at each station. People know they are being watched and have stopped misbehaving," said Chief Public Relations Officer, Vasanth Rao, adding that posters on the Metro trains warning against such behavior.
Namma Metro, which currently operates three coach trains, will run six coach trains by December end.
Namma Metro, which currently operates three coach trains, will run six coach trains by December end. Bengaluru Development Minister, K J George has assured that once the additional coaches arrive one will be reserved for women.
Add more coaches, D K Shivakumar says to BMRCL
Seeing how crowded the Metro was , Energy Minister, D K Shivakumar, who took a ride on it on Saturday, wrote to BMRCL Managing Director, Pradeep Singh Kharola to increase the frequency of the trains and attach more coaches to them. But instead, the very next day, the BMRCL decided to reduce the frequency of the trains to once in 15 minutes on Sundays, second Saturdays and general holidays.
The announcement has come as a rude shock to many commuters opting for the Metro to save time and get to their destinations faster than by road. Day one (June 25) of the new timings saw chaos at the stations with passengers waiting in large number for the trains as they pulled into each station. The train doors began to beep as they couldn’t shut owing to the overcrowding and people began to squeeze their way in, resulting in fights.
" When I went to the Rajajinagar station and boarded the train there was no place to sit until our last stop. It was so overcrowded that was no space to even breathe. Either give us more bogeys or give us trains at more frequency as the Metro is right now more crowded than a BMTC bus ," complained Swayamprabha, who was travelling with her family on the Metro last Sunday.
Many passengers refuse to buy the BMRCL’s argument that there are fewer using the Metro on the weekends and hence the lower frequency of trains. " I am a regular Metro user and have seen that the crowd is bigger on the weekends than on the weekdays. When I took it last Sunday, it was way too congested. I guess this is because Saturdays and Sundays are the time people go around the city to meet friends and family On weekdays you only see a crowd during the morning and evening peak hours," said a Master's student from St. Josephs, Roshan.
Added another commuter, Jyothish, who takes the Metro to work from Jayanagar to Baiyappanahalli, " To begin with only working people used the Metro from Monday to Friday. But gradually everyone has realised that the Metro is a better option and there is a rush for its services throughout the week. I am willing to walk 3kms every day to and from the Metro stations because it is more convenient than riding a bike all the way to Baiyappanahalli."
Weekend revamp for maintenance, says BMRCL
Ask Chief Public Relations Officer of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL), Vasanth Rao about the late start to the Metro’s services on Sundays and he says it is necessary for maintenance work on the trains.
Vasanth Rao
“Earlier we ran trains till only 11pm and so got six hours to maintain and service them. But now as we run the service till midnight , the trains make it to the depot for servicing by only 1am. If we start commercial operations at 5am, they will get only four hours for maintenance,” he points out, explaining that maintenance of trains is important for the safety of passengers and requires at least six to eight hours.
“These are new trains, which run continuously on weekdays as people go to work. We are just choosing one day of the week, which is a non-working day, to give time to maintenance. People must cooperate as this affects their safety and we cannot compromise on that,” he adds.
As for the 15 minute frequency decision, he says it is subject to change depending on the patronage. “We will be more than willing to increase the frequency if the need arises. The frequency was increased to a train every eight and 10 minutes last Sunday," he recalls.
