Bengaluru: In a first since Covid-19, Namma Metro touches 5 lakh daily ridership mark | Bengaluru News – Times of India

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BENGALURU: Namma Metro’s daily ridership recently crossed 5-lakh mark, the highest since the outbreak of Covid-19.
A BMRCL newsletter released on Saturday shows the number of passengers on June 4 (Saturday) was 5.07 lakh — the highest since services resumed on September 7, 2020 after a Covid-induced break. The highest daily-revenue collection was on June 6 (Monday) at Rs 1.2 crore.
BMRCL chief PRO BL Yeshwanth Chavan said: “Normally, ridership is high on Mondays and Fridays. It is picking up because many people are returning to offices and colleges are reopening. But it is less compared to pre-Covid levels since many people, especially techies, are working from home and some have shifted to personal vehicles due to the virus scare.” He said the average daily Metro ridership is now around 4.5 lakh.
Though Namma Metro’s ridership has increased over the past few months, it is still low compared to the 5.2 lakh before the pandemic hit in March 2020. BMRCL records show the highest ridership in its history was over 6 lakh on October 25, 2019.
Namma Metro now has a 56km network (Purple Line 25.6km) and Green Line (30km) compared to 42km before Covid-19.
Some passengers said they rely on the Metro, especially during rain. “It is a saviour during rain as traffic is unpredictable on roads, especially during peak hours. But BMRCL should increase frequency of services and operate trains till midnight to benefit passengers,” said Shilpa S, a regular Metro user.
Currently, Namma Metro is operational between 5am and 11pm, Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, trains are available only from 7am to 11pm.
Meanwhile, BMTC’s daily ridership was around 36 lakh before Covid-19. Its ridership has now touched 28 lakh but it is yet to run full-scale operations, particularly AC buses, due to soaring diesel costs.
Land hurdles yet to be resolved
BMRCL records show land hurdles for several Metro sections, where civil work is progressing, are yet to be resolved. An additional area of 2299.3 sqm of railway land is required for construction of a test track in Challaghatta depot. Though BMRCL had requested to transfer this land, South Western Railway is yet to do it. On the Outer Ring Road, BMRCL requires an additional area of 491.1 sqm of defence land. For the airport Metro corridor, 12,576.6 sqm area is needed for Shettigere depot and the proposal is still pending before the state government.
Records show BMRCL has paid Rs 6,500 crore in terms of compensation for Phase 2. Also, Rs 398.4 crore for Phase-2A (KR Puram – Silkboard) and Rs 1,543 crore for Phase–2B (KR Puram – Kempegowda International Airport) towards compensation for 3,173 properties. In addition to this, Rs 94.4 crore were paid as rehabilitation of 811 land owners, 2249 tenants and 157 of non-title holders, the newsletter stated.

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