Metro officials hope to wind up repair today

From packed trains to packed buses, Namma Metro commuters on the Purple Line (Baiyappanahalli-Mysore Road) struggled to cope with the inconvenience even as the repair work on a pillar progressed near the Trinity station.

About 100 buses were deployed in the morning peak hour, but the rush at the metro stations, especially at Baiyappanahalli, was visible. As metro trains could not run between Indiranagar and MG Road, the buses had the tough task of connecting the stations and ferried passengers till Cubbon Park.

“A metro train carries about 1000 people but we can only carry a maximum of 60 to 70 people. Some commuters on the foot-board had to be forced to wait for the next bus,” a staffer from the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation said.

The buses plied on the same route as that of the metro, but the traffic snarls at MG Road, Trinity and Halasuru stretched what was essentially a five-minute train journey to a nearly 45-minute commute in the peak hour.

At the Trinity metro station, where a lane has been cordoned off for about 50 metres on either side to facilitate the repair work, traffic crawled even in the afternoon hours. Many still came to the metro station entrance expecting to board a train, only to be directed to wait for the bus instead.

A metro official said the viaduct which was lifted on Friday to repair the crossbeam on pillar 155 was lowered on Saturday evening.

Honeycomb removed

“A portion of the crossbeam that had developed the honeycomb has been removed. A thick steel plate of 4 mm has been inserted and the grouting work will be carried out to fill all the gaps and reinforce the structure. We hope the work will be completed by Sunday evening,” the official said.

Once the civil work is completed, the engineers will refit a section of the tracks on the viaduct which was loosened to avoid damage.

Chief Public Relations Officer of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) B L Yashwanth Chavan said, “Experts from the IISc are monitoring the entire operation. By Sunday evening, we will bring it back to the normal,” he said, adding that no decision has been taken to advance the time for restarting the operations on the Indiranagar-MG Road stretch.