Namma Metro repair begins, services partially hit

As repair work on the Metro viaduct near Trinity station began on Friday, services between MG Road and Indiranagar stations were disrupted after 8 pm, inconveniencing thousands of passengers.

Officials have, however, provided free bus service to bridge the nearly 4-km gap.

At Baiyappanahalli Metro station, the last train to cross Indiranagar left at about 7.45 pm. From 8 pm, trains terminated at Indiranagar and passengers who wanted to travel further had to board the BMTC buses to reach Cubbon Park Metro station.

Similarly, trains from Mysuru Road terminated at MG Road Metro station after 8 pm. Many passengers were surprised when the train arrived on Platform number 2 (towards Mysuru Road) instead of the usual track to Baiyappanahalli.

“I came from Vidhana Soudha and had no idea that trains terminated here. Officials informed me about the free bus. But I have to spend a lot of time in traffic now,” said Navateja S, a software engineer from Andhra Pradesh who was en route to Baiyappanahalli.

Metro officials had deployed 80 buses which started operating around 7.45 pm at Bayyappanahalli and Cubbon Park stations.

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has fixed a rate of Rs 3,115 to hire a bus for four hours.

The rates go up to Rs 9,446 for 12 hours. In the evening, more than 50 buses were deployed at Baiyappanahalli, where each passenger travelling beyond Indiranagar station was advised to board the bus instead of the Metro.

“The arrangement is good. But at Cubbon Park, the bus stopped very far from the Metro station and I had to walk nearly 10 minutes to reach the entrance. We are already losing time in traffic. Officials should ensure that we get dropped off at the entrance,” said Deepak Nagaraj, who was travelling to Hubballi.

The disruption is set to bring down the Metro’s daily ridership, which crossed 4 lakh recently.

Repair work begins

Officials from the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited began repair work on pillar number 155 near Trinity Metro station on Friday evening.

Sources in the BMRCL said the viaduct above the affected pillar has to be lifted to repair the honeycombing in the cross beam and the minor damages to the bearing.

“The viaduct will be lifted by about 100 mm. But the rails have to be loosened and the third rail has to be dismantled to ensure they do not suffer any damage. In all probability, the repair work will be completed by Sunday evening,” the source said.