The Bangalore Metropolitan Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is ready to extend the timings of the trains running on the east-west corridor, provided there is patronage and demand like for the north-south corridor trains which run via the Peenya Industrial Estate.
Speaking with Deccan Herald, BMRCL chief spokesperson U A Vasanth Rao said the BMRCL was keenly waiting for public response to the new line. “We want people to come to us with their ideas. Individuals or groups of people representing industry can come to us with a proposal to extend the train timings. We are ready to run the trains from 5 am till 11 pm depending on the demand and patronage. The only condition is there should be a substantial number of passengers. Each coach can take up to 300-350 people and it is only reasonable that the coaches should be more than half full, which then makes sense to run the train over extra hours,” Rao explained.
Trains on the north-south corridor are already running an extra hour from point to point – Nagasandra to Sampige Road and back via Peenya Industrial Estate. The Peenya Industrial Association made a specific request to the BMRCL authorities to run the trains from 5 am, instead of 6 am or 7 am, till 11 pm on account of hundreds of people like garment workers and other industrial staff coming in early to office and going home late. With the certainty of a train, plenty of accumulated work could be finished the previous day, making the next day lighter in terms of work.
On the east-west corridor, there are plenty of industrial workers and techies working in Whitefield. Interestingly, both these classes of people travel from as far as Mysuru Road to Baiyappanahalli. The very fact that 88,000 people are travelling every day, on working days on the east-west corridor, is a clear indicator that apart from general passengers and commuters, plenty of officegoers, working class and techies are travelling from Mysuru Road to Baiyappanahalli.
Given that techies work till late night and login early, a train with extended timings would be useful to them. Industrial workers too get to office early. “Typically, the industrial workers stay in the Nayandahalli area as it is cheaper to get single-room houses or dormitories. They spend a lot of money on transport to reach their workplace, and travelling by a BMTC Volvo is an expensive affair. The train from end-to-end costs just Rs 40, while by bus, one has to pay for the journey from Nayandahalli to Majestic and then from Majestic to Whitefield. This amounts to Rs 70, if not more. We have to work out ways to reduce the travel cost for the industrial class,” says sociologist Asha Ramanathan.
Bengalureans would probably see a change in timings of trains running on the east-west corridor in the near future if people from Mysuru Road area convince the Metro authorities of the need for it.