Namma Metro Yellow Line: Trains from terminals to operate from 5 am to 11 pm with a frequency of 25 minutes

Bengaluru: Metro trains from the terminal stations of the Yellow Line will run between 5 am and 11 pm, in line with the operational timings of the existing network. 

The long-delayed line will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 10, while passenger service will begin the next morning. 

With this, the Namma Metro network will expand to 96.1 km while Phase 2 will increase to 53.8 km. 

With only three driverless trains available for passenger operations every 25 minutes, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) expects rather modest ridership — around 25,000 passengers per day. However, daily ridership is expected to rise to 2 lakh once full-scale operations begin early next year with 15 trains. 

"With a 25-minute frequency, we don't expect many passengers to use the Yellow Line. But ridership should rise to 1.5-2 lakh once all 15 trains are running," a senior BMRCL official in the know told DH. 

The BMRCL has dropped its earlier plan to open only seven stations. 

"We've found it feasible to open all 16 stations at a 25-minute frequency. Opening fewer stations would have further reduced ridership," another senior official said. 

One-way travel time will be about 38 minutes. 

With a daily ridership of 25,000 from the Yellow Line, the BMRCL expects an additional Rs 10-15 lakh daily. But daily earnings will reach at least Rs 60 lakh with full-scale operations. 

The Yellow Line's opening will end years of wait for the residents of southern and southeastern Bengaluru. 

This corridor will bring metro to the tech hub of Electronics City and is expected to decongest the Silk Board Junction. 

The construction contracts were split in three packages and awarded to two companies for Rs 5,056.99 crore in 2017. 

Two packages were slated to complete in 2021. The third package, which includes South India's first double-deck viaduct for metro and road traffic, was expected to take longer. 

Though most of the construction wrapped up in 2023, the line couldn't open due to a shortage of trains. 

In December 2019, the BMRCL awarded a Rs 1,578-crore contract to China's CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Co Ltd to supply 36 trainsets — 15 for the Yellow Line and 21 for the Purple and Green lines — in 173 weeks. 

CRRC was to make 75% of the trains in India. Its plan to set up a manufacturing plant in Andhra Pradesh didn't materliase and it later partnered with the Bengal-based Titagarh Rail Systems Limited (TRSL). TRSL later struggled because Chinese engineers couldn't get visas in time. 

A fourth train for the Yellow Line is expected to arrive by August 10, but will require three weeks of testing before entering service.