Bengaluru Metro's busiest stations revealed; rolling stock shortage affects service frequency

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Byappanahalli is still the third busiest station with a daily footfall of 23,327 passengers, followed by MG Road (22,914) and Vijayanagar (21,352).

Namma Metro, now the second-largest metro network in the country after Delhi (351.2 km), consistently records a daily ridership of 7 lakh.

Changing travel patterns

Indira Nagar, known for its pubs and restaurants, has residential areas as well as the Embassy Golf Links Business Park and offices on Intermediate Ring Road (IRR), Old Airport Road and in Koramangala, leading to the large number of passengers using this station.

Revathy Ashok, CEO and managing trustee at Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), an NGO, said, "We should now focus on feeder bus connectivity for last-mile access from metro stations. Feeder bus services have recently started from KR Pura Metro Station to the tech corridor Outer Ring Road, but this should be extended to other stations as well.

She said Indira Nagar Station has a lot of potential, given the presence of residential areas, commercial spaces, startups, retail outlets and other establishments in the IRR, Koramangala, and Domlur areas. "Similarly, Cubbon Park Station should have improved feeder bus connectivity to Commercial Street, Infantry Road, Vasant Nagar and Shivaji Nagar." she adds.

Also, read: Corporate honchos take a bus ride on Bengaluru's tech corridor Outer Ring Road

Byappanahalli is still preferred by many commuters since it has a spacious car parking area and also services residential areas like CV Raman Nagar and Kasturi Nagar in the vicinity. MG Road station is used by passengers heading to Bengaluru's prime central business district which has Brigade Road, Church Street, and Residency Road as part of its hinterland.

Interestingly, only one of the four terminal stations, Nagasandra, is included in the list of stations with the highest footfall. The other terminal stations, Whitefield, Challaghatta, and Silk Institute, are not on the top list, indicating that fewer passengers are taking end-to-end trips. For instance, the metro’s Purple Line spans 43.49 km (37 stations), connecting Challaghatta to Whitefield in 82 minutes by Metro.

Peenya is among the lowest footfall stations

According to BMRCL records, the Pantharapalya-Nayandahalli (formerly Nayandahalli) station on the Purple Line that abuts Banashankari and Mysuru Road appeared on the metro map on August 30, 2021, and records the lowest passenger traffic figure of  2,287 followed by Peenya Industry (2,371), operational since March 1, 2014, with 2,371 daily passengers, Hopefarm Channasandra (2,526) and Thalaghattapura (2,955).

Despite servicing an industrial area, Peenya experiences lower daily ridership due to the preference of many blue-collar workers for the more cost-effective Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses.

Additionally, non-AC bus rides are free for women, and those in the garment sector, a significant presence in the area tend to prefer BMTC over the Namma Metro for their commuting needs.

Pravir B, a resident of Whitefield, noted, "Whitefield Metro (Byappanahalli-Whitefield) was designed in such a way that it primarily serves the dense office areas rather than the residential areas. For example, the metro takes a right turn from Hoodi instead of proceeding straight into the residential areas. This design caters to individuals commuting from outside the Whitefield area to reach their workplaces via the metro".

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He said lower footfalls at stations like Hopefarm Channasandra, Singayyanapalya and Seetharampalya are primarily due to their location within residential areas and the lack of adequate feeder bus connectivity. Once feeder buses are introduced, more people are likely to switch to the metro for their commutes."

Pravir said travel patterns at these stations may differ during weekends, as people might visit malls, go shopping or scouting for entertainment, or visit the business district.

Srinivas Alavilli of the World Resources Institute (WRI), which launched the #Personal2Public campaign to encourage more people to switch to public transport, explained, "Thalaghattapura may have lower footfall because it primarily consists of residential areas, and many of the residents work in Electronics City, which currently lacks metro connectivity. As a result, they either use their own vehicles or opt for BMTC buses via NICE Road".

"With the extension of the metro from Mysuru Road to Challaghatta, footfall at Pantharapalya-Nayandahalli station is likely to have been distributed among other stations. All terminal metro stations will soon experience high footfall due to ongoing transit-oriented development activities." said Alavilli.

Rolling stock shortage affects frequency

While the completion of the Purple Line has brought relief to passengers, six-coach trains are now running at full capacity, leading to complaints about long queues and overcrowding of trains, causing hardship to passengers.

According to BMRCL, they are operating train services from Whitefield to Pattandur Agrahara every 10 minutes. They also run short-loop services from Patandur Agrahara to Mysuru Road every five minutes, from Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station (Majestic) to MG Road every three minutes during morning peak hours, and from Mysuru Road to Challaghatta every 10 minutes.

However, a shortage of rolling stock is preventing BMRCL from increasing the frequency of train services. While Delhi Metro operates eight-coach trains, Bengaluru stations and platforms are designed for six-coach trains. Officials said that Bengaluru Metro's average platform length is 135m, sufficient for six coach-trains but not more since each coach is 22m long. BMRCL can operate at a frequency of one train every three minutes, but the signalling system will need to be upgraded for shorter intervals of two minutes.

To maintain a healthy frequency of three to four minutes, experts say, BMRCL should have one train per kilometre. In Phase 1, BMRCL had 50 trains for 45 km, but there are only 57 trains now, even though the total network length has increased to 73 km.

BMRCL executive director (operations and maintenance) AS Shankar told Moneycontrol that they have 57 trains, with 33 allocated for the Purple Line and 24 for the Green Line. "We need to keep five trains for maintenance purposes, leaving us with 52 trains, 30 on the Purple Line and 22 on the Green Line. We are assessing passenger traffic and increasing the frequency based on demand."

Praveen S, a techie and regular commuter, said, "Now, the metro is running at full capacity, and waiting times have increased. Sometimes the frequency is 15 minutes, so if we miss a train by a minute, we have to wait for nearly half an hour at the station. Majestic interchange also experiences high crowding.”

He said long waiting times, poor frequency, and overcrowded trains will deter passengers from using the Metro, he added, “Bengaluru has a third-rail power system instead of overhead lines, so if a passenger falls onto the track, he or she will be electrocuted. But there are no platform screen doors at Bengaluru Metro stations to prevent such accidents."

Shankar said there are no immediate plans to install platform screen doors at the existing stations. "We have deployed additional security guards at stations to manage the crowd," he added.

When will the new coaches arrive?

In December 2019, the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) Nanjing Puzhen Co. Ltd. was awarded the contract to supply 216 coaches, with an expected delivery to BMRCL within 173 weeks. Out of the 216 coaches, 126 (21 six-coach trains) will be deployed on the Purple and Green lines, while the remaining 90 coaches (15 six-coach trains) are designated for the under-construction Yellow Line (RV Road-Bommasandra). However, not one train set has reached Bengaluru so far.

The supply was delayed due to challenges faced by CRRC in identifying a local manufacturer to meet the 75 percent local production requirement under the Make in India initiative, as well as factors like Covid-19, foreign direct investment policies, and trade restrictions with China. Subsequently, CRRC partnered with Kolkata-based Titagarh Rail to manufacture and supply the coaches.

Bengaluru: Prototype of driverless Metro train for Electronics City revealed; trains likely to arrive from China by Oct

BMRCL officials said they will introduce driverless trains as part of the communication-based train control (CBTC) signalling system for the Yellow Line. This would be the first time Bengaluru Metro would see CBTC, commonly referred to as 'driverless technology,’ Currently, Namma Metro employs the DTG (distance-to-go) signalling system, with a minimum time gap of two and a half minutes between trains. However, CBTC has the potential to reduce that gap to less than 90 seconds.

The first two metro trains from CRRC are expected to be shipped from China on October 18 and should arrive in Bengaluru within a month.

Also, read: First batch of Metro trains for Bengaluru’s Electronics City to be shipped from China on October 18: Titagarh

Following this, Titagarh plans to deliver 12 cars each month to fulfil the order within the timeline of March 2025. BMRCL intends to deploy these trains on the Yellow Line initially and subsequently induct them into the Purple and Green Lines.