Yellow Line frequency to improve to 12 mins in December with sixth train on the way

Bengaluru: Trains on the Yellow Line will run every 12-13 minutes during peak hours from December as Namma Metro expects to receive the sixth trainset by November-end, officials in the know said. 

On November 17, Titagarh Rail Systems Limited (TRSL) dispatched the first three coaches of the sixth train, with three more expected to leave its Bengal plant on November 19, a senior official in the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) told DH. 

The six coaches will complete the 2,000-km road journey in about 10 days and arrive at the Hebbagodi depot by the last week of November.

After arrival and coupling, the trainset will undergo static tests at the depot and dynamic tests on the mainline at night. It is expected to enter passenger service by the third or fourth week of December, improving peak-hour frequency to 12-13 minutes. The BMRCL may also advance the Yellow Line’s start time from the current 6 am. 

Trains on the 19.15-km RV Road-Bommasandra metro line currently run every 15 minutes during peak hours (8 am to noon and 4 pm to 9 pm), with one spare train kept on standby in the afternoon as a contingency measure. 

TRSL is making two more trainsets, both likely to be dispatched in December. 

BMRCL Chief Public Relations Officer BL Yashawanth Chavan said peak-hour frequency would improve to 10 minutes once eight trainsets were inducted. 

TRSL is manufacturing trains under a sub-contract with China’s CRRC Nanjing Puzhen Co Ltd, which won a Rs 1,578-crore contract to deliver 36 trainsets for Namma Metro. 

The Yellow Line opened on August 11 and has pushed daily ridership to over a million, but passengers are unhappy with low frequency and late start time. 

On Monday morning, a group of passengers delayed the first train’s departure from RV Road by half an hour, demanding an earlier start to operations.