Unlock 4.0: On Day 1, response to Bengaluru metro services poor

Revenue not sufficient to pay power bills to run the trains, fear officials

Response to the BMRCL’s effort to open up Namma Metro was poor on the first day, with the six-hour service on the Purple Line (Byappanahalli-Mysore Road) seeing less than 3,770 passengers.

The numbers are less than the load carried by two trains during the pre-pandemic peak hour. Going by the standard operating procedures, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) had decided to resume the metro services in a graded manner.

The Purple Line had been picked since it accounted for more than 60% riders earlier.

Operations were restricted to the peak hour, giving time for the employees to adjust to the new normal.

Train services resumed at 8 am on Monday after a gap of over five months, but many stations did not see a single passenger for nearly an hour.

By the time the morning operations ended at 11 am, the Purple Line had recorded just 1,975 rides. A six-car train carried 2,000 passengers during morning peak hours.

BMRCL chief public relations officer B L Yashwanth Chavan said the three-hour operations in the evening (4.30 pm to 7.30 pm) recorded 1,795 rides, taking the day’s total ridership to 3,770.

Going by the ceiling of 400 passengers per train in the new normal, the trains could carry 36,400 passengers.

Only 10% of that number rode the service shows that the chances of attaining operational feasibility are remote in the near future, BMRCL officials added.

Severe dip in revenue

While a day’s operations yielded over Rs 1.2 crore in the pre-pandemic days with trains ferrying about 4.5 lakh passengers, Monday’s revenue of Rs 1.25 lakh will not even be sufficient to pay the energy bills to run the trains, estimated at Rs 19 lakh. “We are not looking at revenue. Metro is being operated as a service to help the restoration of normalcy during the unlock period,” an officer said.

Officials believe that a combination of factors led by fear over the pandemic and the increasing work-from-home culture has limited the ridership. “We have also barred cash transactions and cancelled token tickets, which may keep away some riders. But these rules in the SOP are aimed to make the metro safe.”

Vivek N, a commuter, said the empty train made the journey strange. “Many people may not know the metro services have restarted. People are also confused about the new rules to recharge the metro cards.”