Namma Metro's Purple Patch

Barely a couple of days after the east-west corridor of the Namma Metro (from Byappanahalli to Mysore Road) was thrown open to the public, I was waiting at Indiranagar metro station to go to Trinity Circle. I was approached by a middle-aged couple with their daughter in tow, "We want to go to Chickpet market, which will be the nearest station?" I made an educated guess, "Kempe Gowda station". Just then another person asked, “'To go to Visveshwaraya station, should I take the train to Mysore Road or Byappanahalli?”

I have been taking the metro off and on to beat the parking mess at M.G. Road, but this was the first time I was seeing so many passengers on the platform that too at an odd hour of around 12 noon on a working day. They all seem to be exploring what the extended purple line has on offer and their frustration with road traffic was more than palpable.

The fact that it offered connectivity to a commercial cum transport hub (Majestic) and the hot seat of babudom (Vidhana Soudha) and that too in air-conditioned comfort, away from the heat and dust of BMTC buses and auto rickshaws had excited many. 

Curious, I too decided that one day I should go up to Mysore Road and the trip finally materialised after many postponements. The time was around 11.30 am, not exactly a peak hour, and at Indira Nagar station there were some 5-6 people in the queue. 

Though it was nearly a month after East West corridor opened, the novelty had still not waned. There were still many people taking selfies, groupfies and family photos on the platform, much to the annoyance of security personnel. The train finally arrived and the loco pilot happened to be a woman. Male loco pilots seem to be a rarity in Namma Metro, don't recall seeing one myself.

After boarding, I had to make do with holding on to stirrups as no seats were vacant. When the trains were plying only up to M G Road, one could easily count on one's fingers the number of passengers per bogie. The succeeding stations like Ulsoor and Trinity only had passengers trickling in, with hardly anyone alighting. Only at MG Road there was some outflow.

The train then entered the much vaunted underground stretch ('the first in South India' gushed many of our city dailies) that took ages to get completed. The descent from Chinnaswamy stadium was gentle. The stations on the underground stretch looked as if they were hurriedly done up with some finishing work still pending. The 'jugaad' mindset was very much at play.

As the train pulled into Kempegowda station, there was a widespread churn and I did manage to get a seat. The station has the makings of a busy junction with trains gorging and disgorging passengers - a gentrified version of Dadar station in Mumbai.

As the train crossed Magadi Road station it was a gentle ascent out of the underground section. I must confess my knowledge of this side of Bangalore is very scanty and apart from Vijayanagar and Mysore Road, the rest of the stations like Hosahalli were indeed quite 'hosa' (new) to me.

The Mysore road station was quite a misnomer as none of landmarks such as Satellite Bus station or Gopalan Mall were anywhere close to it. As I stepped out it looked as if this station was built out of nowhere. The highway was buzzing with vehicles and so was the flyover above, with hardly any shops or restaurants nearby.

Anyhow it is a work in (slow) progress and with the purple line proposed to run up till Kengeri, its only a matter of time before the above landmarks become accessible by Namma Metro.

Tail piece: While waiting at Indiranagar station ticket counter I happened to see an unusual notice pasted on the glass panel. It stated that children above three feet height require full-ticket, or words to that effect. I just hope that the BMRCL personnel manning the ticket counters keep a measuring tape handy, in case they run into some stubbornly argumentative parents! 

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What Ails Suburban Stations

I happened to go to Banaswadi railway station to see off my family and got a taste of what actually ails the city's suburban stations, especially those on the way to Yeshwanthpur. 

Though these stations figure among the designated stops of various express trains, to reduce pressure on Bangalore Central and Yeshwantpur stations, hardly any thought or action has taken place to improve amenities. The length of the platform in many of these stations are still good enough only for local trains and hence when a 18-coach express train arrives, some of the rear coaches don't make it to the platform.

We started from home early, not because we had any illusions about Railway's punctuality, but to circumvent the greatest bugbear of Bangaloreans - traffic. Surprisingly it was not in its element, partly because it happened to be a Sunday, and we ended up reaching the station about 45 minutes ahead of scheduled time.

As it was drizzling we decided to spend some time in the car. Later about 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled time we made it to the station. The usually sleepy entrance was bursting at the seams. I rationalised that it might be due to the festival rush, as most schools are closed for nearly a fortnight.

Somehow we managed to negotiate our way amid the crowds and baggage into the platform. Only then it did dawn on me the real reason for this crowding. The platform roof barely covers a small area near the entrance of the station. The rest of them have been left open. Since it was drizzling, passengers had decided to remain huddled below the roof area.

A stray dog, probably a long time resident at the station, was bewildered by the crowd and had to put up with the agony of being stepped upon or shooed away by passengers. The dog too was also seeking its place under the roof to avoid getting drenched. 

I then realised that the second platform had no roof at all. Shortly afterwards a train arrived in that platform. It was coming from Tirupati and had lots of pilgrims with shaven heads. Don't know how passengers alighting from that train managed amid the drizzle. And those who stayed back for onward journey were subjected to long torturous wait. In fact it left only after the Kannur bound express left, after about 45 minutes.

The reason, of course, again lies with lack of planning. Though Yeshwanthpur was made an alternate terminus to Bangalore Central, no measures were taken to double the track. Nearly 20-30 trains originate from the terminus but they have to make do with single track. As a result, we have these eternal waits due to crossings. Quite often trains even start off from Yeshwantpur on a delayed note.

Finally our train arrived, of course some 45 minutes behind schedule, but mercifully the rains had stopped and the crowd had dispersed. 

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