The newly inaugurated 4.8-km underground stretch of Namma Metro on Saturday turned out to be a tourist hub with curious Bengalureans hopping on for a ride to experience the journey first-hand.
While the footfall was around 30,000 in early afternoon, the number crossed 90,000 later in the day.
Expecting huge passenger demand, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) had doubled the number of trains on the east-west corridor’s Purple Line to 12, while there were trains every 6 to 8 minutes, which earlier had a gap of 10 to 15 minutes.
BMRCL spokesperson Vasanth Rao told DH that at 8 pm on Saturday the ridership was about 80,000 and crossed 90,000 by 10 pm. “We have generated a total revenue of Rs 35 lakh,” he said. Metro made 115 trips from Baiyappanahalli to Mysuru road.
The metro train was open for public from 6 am and the last train was at 10 pm. “We are also considering increasing the frequency and extending services during IPL matches,” said Rao.
Smiles and shutterbugs were all around the metro stations on Saturday. Commuters, mostly families and their relatives, thronged the stations to enjoy the first journey in the underground stretch.
This was evident in the case of 88-year-old Gurudath Halady, who came with a family of eight, including two kids.
Binu Jaidev, from Koramangala, also took a ride with his parents, wife and children. “We came for a joyride as my relatives were in the City,” said Jaidev.
A delighted Karthi G Sogal, an engineering student from Uttarahalli, said: “This is a saviour for people of Bengaluru who painfully passed their time in slow moving traffic. I am so happy.”
Interestingly, Mohan and wife Sumitra, residents of Indiranagar, were out to familiarise themselves with different locations.
“We had no other plan other than getting familiar with different places. We wanted to know where each station is located and how close it is to different localities and establishments,” said Mohan.
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