East-West Metro may run every 3 minutes during peak hours

Metro commuters on East-West line are likely to get a train every three minutes during peak hours after Namma Metro opens the remaining stretch of the Green Line to the public, where the frequency will be six minutes.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola said, “We estimate that the load on Purple Line (East-West) will be more and so the frequency can touch three minutes. On the entire North-South line, we will run trains every six minutes during peak hours,” he said, adding that the frequency will come down to four minutes gradually.

Green Line, where the frequency is 10 minutes at present, will benefit the most when BMRCL runs trains every six minutes. At present, trains run at a frequency of four and five minutes for nearly two hours in the morning and evening on Purple Line.

“Green Line has 29 of the 50 trains. We have to transfer three trains to Purple Line to manage the crowd. If that falls short, we will run the short-loop service,” Kharola said.

The number of Metro riders is expected to cross five lakh after the entire Phase-1 becomes operational. While it is yet to be seen whether BMRCL’s measures will help in making Metro ride comfortable, the infrastructure seems to be more than enough.

Explaining the infrastructure capacity to handle the increased number of commuters, Kharola said the Kempegowda Metro Station can handle 20,000 people at a time.