Sunday 14 December 2014

My Experience in Bengaluru Metro Train- Namma Metro

Today when I was reading a news article about Bengaluru Metro train, my flashback unfolded. It took me to the year 2011, November when the first stretch (Reach 1) between MG Road to Baiyyappanahalli was inaugurated. I was very keen to have a look on Bengaluru's new attraction -The metro train and experience a ride in it. From 2007 I was seeing Metro construction works, flyover like long bridges and tracks and imagining a world class metro train on that. So one weekend my hubby took me to MG Road metro station.
We reached MG Road at 10 AM and there was a long queue on the footpath. "It takes two hours to reach the ticket counter"my hubby yelled at me. Like me Bengalurians had a great curiosity and everyone wanted to experience the ride. We stood in the queue, reached the ticket counter around 12 PM. I just turned back...OMG!! Almost a kilometer long queue again!!! Within first three days of metro's operation, 1,70,000 passengers have already commuted it seems!!
MG Road Metro Station
In the ticket counter they issued coin like tokens. These tokens are available only for single journey. A person can buy upto 6 tokens for additional passengers and himself. Metro also issues smart cards  like how BMTC issues daily and monthly passes. One side of the token has namma metro symbol and the other side has Kempegowda tower symbol.

Metro Token

Namma Metro Symbol

After collecting the token, we waited for the train to arrive. There are trains every 15 minutes and finally for my excitement the train arrived. I was thrilled. It looked like a toy train. Train was just about to stop but people already started getting in ignoring the warning from security guards. Thank God there was no stampede.




I just had a view on the inside infrastructure of the train. Train was air conditioned. Though there were side seating arrangements, large proportion of the floor area has been given to standing passengers. Passengers have emergency voice communication with train staff through a speaker system. Train is wifi enabled so that passengers can use their laptops and mobile internet. They are also provided with a call button to communicate to the driver or control center during an emergency. I was very happy to see our train had two lady drivers.


In the train, I was lost in my own world and woke up when train stopped at Baiyyappanahalli station. Oops!! It just took 20 minutes to reach Baiyyappanahalli station from MG Road. I observed that metro stations are equipped with CCTV. 
And at Baiyyappanahalli station we again collected tokens for return journey. I was lucky to have a conversation with a lady driver who was enjoying her break with a cup of coffee. She informed that tracks are equipped with concrete barriers to prevent trains from leaving the track and also trains are equipped with special sensors which detect collisions and controls speed limit. Support pillars are earthquake proof. 
Metro Station @ Baiyyappanahalli

It was really a memorable experience of namma metro ride. Eagerly waiting for Reach 3 and 3A ride between Malleshwaram and Peenya which started its operation in March 2014.