Metro Rail services resume in Bengaluru after over 5 months to subdued response

As part of Unlock 4.0, Metro Rail services started on the Purple Line from Byappanahalli station at 8 am towards Mysuru Road and vice versa and were operated for three hours each during the peak hours in the morning and evening initially. "The six-coach train from Byappanahalli had 12 passengers whereas 15 to 16 passengers boarded the train at the Nayandahalli station on Mysuru Road," a BMRCL official told PTI.

Metro Rail services in the city resumed on Monday after being stopped for over five months due to coronavirus pandemic but the response was subdued with only a few thousand commuters taking the trains. As part of Unlock 4.0, Metro Rail services started on the Purple Line from Byappanahalli station at 8 am towards Mysuru Road and vice versa and were operated for three hours each during the peak hours in the morning and evening initially.

"The six-coach train from Byappanahalli had 12 passengers whereas 15 to 16 passengers boarded the train at the Nayandahalli station on Mysuru Road," a BMRCL official told PTI. The official said people appear to be very cautious.

He was, however, optimistic that things would gradually improve in the coming days. The BMRCL official said that 3,770 passengers took up the journey through Metro Railway.

"There were 3770 passengers today. Revenue was Rs 1.25 lakh. In all there were 91 trips," the BMRCL officials said. Services on the Metro Green Line from Yelachenahalli to Nagasandra will start from Wednesday.

These trains will operate only for six hours only during peak hours from 8 am to 11 am and 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm till September 10. From September 11 onwards, the trains will ply on both the lines from 7 am to 9 pm.

"The number of commuters allowed in each train is limited to 400 passengers to ensure social distancing norms," another official said. The halting time in each station will be 60 seconds so that passengers shall maintain social distancing while boarding and deboarding.

At the Kempe Gowda interchange station, the dwell time will be 75 seconds, the BMRCL said. The BMRCL said it will not open gates in those stations which are located in the containment zones.

The Metro Rail also made it clear that all passengers will have to use smart cards as it will not sell tokens.Even no card recharge will be done at the stations. Instead, the passengers will have to top up their cards using the BMRCL's mobile application. In place of card readers at the entry and exit points, there will be flash readers.

Metro Rail officials said the BMRCL has incurred huge loss to the tune of crores of rupees during the lockdown since March 25 as the operations were suspended during the period.