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Bengaluru: Passengers, especially office-goers, faced difficulties as the operations of the Bengaluru metro or Namma metro were disrupted on its Purple Line on Saturday due to a technical snag. The major route affected was between MG Road and Baiyappanahalli, where train services were suspended until the technical problem was resolved. Currently, metro services are available between Challaghatta, MG Road, Baiyappanahalli and Whitefield (Kadugodi). However, the technical issue only affected the Purple Line while the Green Line of the Namma metro is running as usual.
However, the suspension of metro services affected the passengers, prompting them to share the update on social media platforms. ‘It’s 9:20 am on Saturday morning, and metro connectivity has come to a standstill due to some unknown reasons,’ one of the metro passengers shared on X.
BMRCL spokesperson promptly responded and expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to the passengers.
“Disruption in Metro rail services on the purple line. Due to technical snag train services will not be available for a period of one hour between MG Road & Baiyappanahalli. Presently train services will be available only between MG Road and Challaghatta & Baiyappanahalli & Whitefield (Kadugodi).Green line the trains will run as usual. Inconvenience caused is regretted,” the spokesperson said.
Shankar A S, the Executive director (operations and maintenance), stated that the metro staff is trying to restore the power supply.
“Our staff are on job to restore power supply and resume services,” Shankar told TOI.
“The circuit breaker was tripping so we couldn’t extend the power despite repeated attempts. It took some time to isolate the equipment and identify what happened,” Deccan Heral quoted A S Shankar as saying.
Responding on the passengers being stranded and confused at the M G Road station, he said, “We immediately notified the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) to arrange buses but that would have taken some time.”
The construction work on Bangalore’s Namma Metro Yellow Line is expected to be completed soon. However, Bengalureans will have to wait for another six months as the service is anticipated to be delayed. According to Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL), the reason behind the unexpected delay is the delivery of metro coaches that are to arrive from China. However, the main cause of the months-long delay is necessity for engineers from the Chinese coach supply company to accompany two prototype trains. These engineers have recently been granted visas for India.
In 2019, the Chinese factory named China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) obtained the Rs 1,578 crore contract of BMRCL to deliver 216 metro coaches. However, the company failed to deliver the coaches because not having established a manufacturing plant in India as stipulated.
According to a senior BMRCL official said that after receiving the prototype train, the BMRCL will perform three months of trial before opening the metro services for public. In these three months, it also apply for the approvals for commercial operations.
The yellow line will face delays because of the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections which is expected to start in April–May this year. “We anticipate that operations may commence in July this year, following the completion of testing of the coaches and signalling system of the Yellow Line. A seamless interface is essential between the trainset and signalling systems. Subsequently, oscillation trials will be conducted through the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO),” an official said.
The yellow of the BMRCL stretches 19 km, from R.V. Road to Bommasandra will provide services to lakhs of people and will also decrease the traffic on the stretch. The stretch, which will also connect the Electronics City,
The 19-km elevated Yellow Line—from R.V. Road to Bommasandra—that will connect Electronics City, is expected to cater to lakhs of commuters and decrease traffic on the stretch as it connects south Bengaluru to the southeastern parts of the city.
The Yellow Line will benefit many people especially college goers, school students and working in the Bommasandra industrial area, Beratena Agrahara (Hosa Road), HSR Layout, and Electronics City.
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