The 6.4-km Mysuru Road-Magadi Road Reach 2 Metro rail has been having very thin passenger flow two months after it was inaugurated in mid-November last year.
A random survey of the passenger flow on the train revealed that on weekdays, there are not more than 20 people on trips both ways, while on weekends, the passenger flow is a shade higher.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited General Manager (Finance) Vasanth Rao, however, says the total passenger flow taken on all trips from morning to night is around 2,000 on weekdays and around 4,000 on weekends.
“The passenger flow on the Mysuru Road-Magadi Road reach is definitely not high. This is perhaps due to the lack of connectivity to and from Majestic on the East-West corridor. Once the Majestic connection is up and running, the passenger flow will definitely be high. It will take some time, but it will happen,” Rao said.
Passengers on the train too have a similar view. Harshitha V, a Class 10 student, said: “I travel daily morning and evening. On both trips, I see only about 10 or 20 people in the whole train. I think the train has to be fully connected beyond Majestic. People also say that unless the Majestic station is ready, the train won’t run full.”
Venkatesh Murthy, a schoolteacher, said the Majestic factor was important. “The underground work and testing is going on. There are a lot of people who travel beyond Magadi Road and go right up to Baiyappanahalli. The entire line should be readied before expecting more people to take the train. Naturally, the Majestic station is crucial. We are all waiting for the work to get completed there.”
According to Rao, the trains will have to be kept running even if the passenger flow is low because testing is also happening simultaneously. “Our staff will get to understand how the Metro system works and how they should respond to different situations. They will learn about operations. It is a training of sorts and we are looking at this positively – we will get to know things that we are not aware of. The underground testing has to continue to ensure that the entire corridor functions according to parameters.”
The Majestic and Chickpet, Majestic and Mantri Square underground sections, too, should become ready so that people can travel to KR Market and Jayanagar on one side and Malleswaram and Peenya on the other.
Once both corridors are connected, people can travel across the corridors – both East-West and North-South – from any station. This will certainly enable more people to take the train from Mysuru Road to Magadi Road and beyond.
