Bengaluru: On marking the completion of one year of Bengaluru's Namma Metro, three additional coaches were added to the existing three. The upgraded Metro train started running since Friday and has received immense cheer and goodwill of the people. The upgraded train can carry up to 1,950 passengers as against 975 passengers earlier.
The new Metro train has been inducted along the Purple Line because of large number of commuters. It comes as a relief to commuters, who were otherwise crammed into coaches. Jessy, a frequent traveller on Metro, said, “Normally during peak hours, it used to be like a crammed chicken coop. Now I have a lot of space around me."
Samuel, another commuter, said, “A single train with six coaches is not enough, especially during the peak hours. The government should hurry up with the process of upgrading the trains by the year-end.” Metro officials told Deccan Chronicle that there are 53 Metro trains with three coaches and all of them will be upgraded to six coaches. Also, the number of passengers using the Metros is also on the rise, and has gone up from 1.5 lakh to over 3.4 lakh per day.
Ragunath, a former Navy man, said, “Adding three additional coaches is a great idea. However, I don’t feel there is a need to have six coaches for all trains as it will not be economically feasible.” He criticized the use of plastic used during the inauguration. On coaches dedicated to women, Prithvi, a techie, and Adrian, a HR professional, said, “It’s a wonderful idea as it will give more security to women. But men should also be allowed in these coaches during peak hours as the space is very limited.”
Top officials said that other trains will get additional coaches by next year. But commuters were sceptical and pointed out that BMRCL has always missed deadlines. “It took more than four months just to put together three additional coaches and that too in a single train,” said a commuter, who wished not to be identified.
