Bengaluru: Train services on Namma Metro's Purple Line were delayed during the morning rush hour on Tuesday, disrupting the plans of thousands of office-goers.
This was the third disruption on the Purple Line since January. On February 20, a technical snag disrupted trains for nearly four hours. A similar problem halted the services on January 27. And on January 5, services were stopped between Yeshwantpur and Nagasandra on the Green Line after a passenger jumped on the track.
Passengers say the disruption on Tuesday could have been avoided.
A private-sector employee travelling from Kengeri to Cubbon Park said his train halted longer at every station and stopped midway multiple times.
"The train halted at every station for over a minute, as against the usual 10-15 seconds. And it stopped thrice between stations," he told DH, warning that metro services during the morning rush hour were increasingly becoming unreliable. The travel time rose to 48 minutes, as against the usual 33 minutes, he added.
The commuter also questioned the short-loop services between Majestic and Garudacharpalya, calling them "unfair" to passengers travelling long distances.
Another passenger wrote on X that his train took over 20 minutes to start. Other commuters reported similar delays.
A S Shankar, Executive Director (Operations and Maintenance) at Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), said the problem was caused by the detention of a train at Indiranagar, leading to a bunching of trains.
"Trains weren't interspaced equally and ran too close, so there were delays," he told DH. "A train will not move unless the next one is cleared. Many trains were held behind as a result."
With 32 trains running on the 44-km Purple Line, there will be a train at every other station at any given point in time, he said.
Short-loop services
Shankar said short-loop services were introduced after a detailed demand analysis. While commuters want these trains to run till Pattandur Agrahara to cater to ITPL techies, Shankar said the footfall at the metro station was "low" and that many trains ran empty.
The BMRCL runs short-loop services from Baiyappanahalli to Mysuru Road during the evening rush hour. Commuters say they should run till Kengeri.