The much-awaited six-car Namma Metro train was flagged off at Baiyappanahalli metro station by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy along with other dignitaries as,Hardeep Singh Puri,Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,Dr.G.Parameshwara,
U.A.Vasanth Rao,General Manager of BMRCL,with many more were present at the flagging off of new six car new metro train at Baiyappanahalli Metro Station on Friday, about some 45 minutes later than the scheduled time.The six-car train will have a capacity of 2,004 passengers.
The Chief Minister, along with dignitaries, also travelled in the new six-coach train till Kempegowda Majestic Metro station. The new six-car train, with one coach exclusive for women, will run on the busy Purple Line, between Byappanahalli and Mysuru Road, and is expected to congestion during peak hours. Purple Line witnesses higher volume of commuters than Green Line.
It is a matter of great happiness for the Namma Metro family which has successfully completed one year of commissioning of Phase-1,network during which there has been significant increase in the number of trips in the ridership.The success is mainly due to the increasing patronage of the citizens of Bengaluru and also due to the untiring efforts of each and every moment of the Namma Metro family.This will not only help in increasing the ridership but also enhance the safety,comfort and convenience of passengers.
Women commuters are likely to benefit even more,since one coach will be specially reserved for women in the 6-coach train.
The new coaches will have several improved featured for safety,energy saving,ease of maintenance and also for commercial development.
Namma Metro has won the hearts of bengaluru citizens and it is helping them to save their travel timings but it lacks with amenities as in some metro stations there are no proper escalators, No proper Pedestrian crossing facilities,in and around metro stations there are huge potholes in many places the potholes are like sinkholes or crater like potholes it is, lack of street lights in many stations street lights is not functioning at all and in many stations whole stretch will be totally dark the authorities should look into this and give us good amenities and safety of passengers is most important they should come with some solution for this one of the daily commuter who travels in metro expressed his displeasure on the authorities of Namma Metro BMRCL employees.
BMRCL Managing Director, Mahendra Jain addressing at a press conference said BEML, which is manufacturing the coaches, has promised that all coaches will be delivered by June 2019 instead of December 2019.By June 2019, all 50 trains will be six-coach trains, he said.In the last one year, the number of trips made by Namma Metro has gone up to 298 from216 The train will be operated primarily during the morning and evening peak hours on weekdays.However, it will run this Saturday and Sunday, starting its first trip at 7.24 a.m. from Baiyappanahalli. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) Managing Director Mahendra Jain said the company will take a call on operating the train for the next weekend depending on the ridership.As announced earlier, the first coach will be reserved for women, and short-loop services will be operated to ease peak traffic.Speaking about the milestones in the journey of Namma Metro, he said since the commissioning of Phase I, the number of trips made had gone up to 298 from 216, and ridership had touched four lakh per day on some days, and an average 3.65 lakh per day from the earlier 1.5 lakh. The revenue generated per day now is Rs. 1 Crore on a regular basis.The trains are operated at a punctually of 99.8%,which is rated as the best amongst all Metros in the country.Several other initiatives have been taken such as operating short loop service,train starting from majestic/Vijayanagar/M G Road to ease the peak traffic,Multi-Model integration of various transportation hubs at majestic and other stations,earmarking first 2 entrances for women,high rating on cleanliness in Metro trains stations and so on.In view of this management has decided to extend the following financial and non-financial benefits to the operations and maintenance staff of Namma.
Mr. Kumarsawamy recalled that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone for the metro rail project for the stretch between Baiyappanahalli and M.G. Road., in June 2006, when he was the chief minister.The city had reached saturation point, and projects to decongest it, such as the Outer Peripheral Ring Road and developing satellite towns, had become imperative.
Addressing at a press conference,Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, said, “Sometimes, opposition and and partisan politics suggests that metro should either be made free, or there should never be a fare hike. If you do that, can you maintain the safety, efficiency; so the choice is between a first class, world class asset and something that seems to be in shambles.Elaborating on the need for projects, such as the metro rail for cities, Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, said, “Our problems in urban areas in terms of urbanisation and demographic shifts of population are going to increase. In 1947, the urban population was only 17% on a population base of 300 to 350 million; in the 2011 census, 30% on a population basis of around 1.25 billion lived in urban areas; by 2030, we will have something like 600 million of our citizens living in our large cities and urban areas. So, it is absolutely essential that we decongest the roads by providing world class urban mobility, and the metro is one such example he added.
Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister G. Parameshwara said Bengaluru is the fastest growing city in Asia, and there was a necessity to develop satellite towns to solve its problems.There are over 70 lakh vehicles on Bengaluru’s roads. After the Phase II Namma Metro becomes operational, some 20 lakh people are expected to travel by the metro. But we don’t know how many more vehicles will be added by then. Bengaluru is the fastest growing city in Asia today. We have to develop Ramanagara, Kolar and Tumakuru as satellite towns, and link them by metro or suburban train. Bengaluru’s problems will be solved then,” he said.
Financial demands,
1.Granting the following allowances as,Night duty allowance,Hard duty allowance,Washing allowance,Transport allowance
2.General Holiday allowance in place of weekly off failing on General Holiday.
Non-Financial Demands:
1.Providing subsidized food at BMRCL existing canteen at depot.
2. Recognition of Kannada Sangha of BMRCL staff.
3. Constructon of creche where there are more than 100 women employees.
4. establishing default stations for 108 ambulances at kempegowda station.
5. Providing annual appraisal copy to the employees.
6. Providing additional pair of uniform to the employees other than existing.
7. Agree to effect the amendments to C&R rules to create intermediate posts for promotion.
