From today, board a Metro train every 6 minutes at peak hours

Starting Wednesday, a Metro train will run every six minutes on the Purple Line between Baiyappanahalli and Mysuru Road during morning and evening peak hours.  The decision by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to cut the waiting time for commuters comes three months after Namma Metro’s underground section was opened. Hitherto, the frequency was eight minutes during peak hours and 15 minutes during non-peak hours.

“Though trains are not running to their full carriage capacity of 950 passengers, we decided to increase the frequency to provide better comfort to commuters. The timings could be further changed based on passenger demand,” a BMRCL official told Deccan Herald.

BMRCL is capable of running a train every three minutes. It has a total of 50 trains. It uses 15 of them on the east-west corridor and six on the north-south corridor on a rotational basis.

Passengers welcomed the move. Prashanth Srinivas, a businessman who regularly travels on the Metro, said trains were running packed and causing inconvenience to women and senior citizens. He welcomed the decision to increase the frequency, saying commuters had made repeated requests to the BMRCL.

‘Extend timings’
Sanjeev V Dyamannavar, who is part of an advocacy group, feels Metro train timings should be extended. If the BMRCL can run trains from 5 am up to 11.30 pm, it would help many commuters change their mode of transport, he said. He sought to know when will the BMRCL double the number of coaches considering the increase in ridership. A BMRCL official, however, said that the corporation had no plans to extend the timings until the entire Phase I was ready.