In early August, the Yellow Line, which runs around 19 km from R-V Road in Jayanagar to Bommasandra via Electronics City, started out with just three rakes. At busy intersections like R V Road, this restricted service resulted in crowded platforms.
BMRCL has released updated Yellow Line operating hours in light of the fourth train’s arrival. According to the revised schedule, Monday through Saturday services will now start earlier at 6 am rather than 6.30 am.
The starting hour on Sundays remains 7 am. The last train departures from RV Road and Bommasandra are still scheduled for 11:55 pm and 10:42 pm, respectively.
A senior
BMRCL official stated that the completion of the required 750 km of mainline testing was a prerequisite for the deployment of the fourth set. “We carried out trial runs on Monday and Tuesday to fulfil the required 750 km mainline operations for service induction,” the official told the Times of India.
There are several advantages to this new rake’s addition, such as reduced platform congestion and enhanced passenger flow. With more frequent services, security staff who have previously set up barricades to control crowds should experience less pressure.
The fourth train set, according to the authority, will reduce crowding, particularly at the RV Road station, which has been experiencing significant rush during peak hours. “However, a 19-minute interval is still very long. Therefore, we are working to bring in more trains soon,” the official added.
The BMRCL is working to increase the frequency of services. Although delivery schedules for additional rakes may be postponed due to issues with bogie supply from China, a fifth train set is expected to arrive in Bengaluru by mid-September from Titagarh Rail Systems in West Bengal.
It is expected that the bogies for the sixth train set will ship on September 14 and arrive in Kolkata for assembly in about three weeks. The ultimate goal of BMRCL is to deploy a minimum of eight trains in order to attain the desired 10-minute gap between services.
The Namma Metro Yellow Line in Bengaluru was opened on August 11 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since its launch, the line has averaged between 60,000 and 80,000 passengers per day, which is far more than the 25,000 to 30,000 riders the BMRCL initially projected.
