Bengaluru Metro to extend timing from January 1

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation said last set of trains from Majestic station will depart in all directions at 12 am. The last metro train from Baiyappanahalli will depart at 11:35pm rather than 11pm now.   

Bengaluru: In some good news for public transport passengers, the Bengaluru Metro will extend train timings from January 1, 2020 enabling passengers to take trains later than the existing schedule.

At 12 am, the last set of trains from Majestic (Nadaprabhu Kempegowda) station will depart in all directions, announced Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) in a statement.

According to the statement, from the Mysuru Road Station, the metro train will depart at 11.40 pm (against the existing 11.05 pm), from Baiyappanahalli at 11.35 pm (against 11 am), from Nagasandra at 11.25 pm (existing 10.50 pm) and from Yelachenahalli at 11.35 pm (existing 11 pm).

The east-west corridor stretch of the metro, from Baiyappanahalli in the east to Mysuru Road in the west is 18.1km long.

The north-south corridor from Nagasandra in the north to Puttenahalli in the south is 24.2km long.

Also known as Namma Metro, Bengaluru metro is a joint venture between the Central government and government of Karnataka.

This announcement, while benefiting lakhs of commuters who depend on the metro, comes at a time when the spotlight is on overall infrastructure, particularly transport, with regard to safety of women.

Raju, a businessman, told a daily newspaper that he frequently travels to Majestic from Deepanjalinagar on work, with no fixed timings. “Now that the trains are available for a longer duration, it will be really helpful,” he said.

Meanwhile, a student said this initiative would be of little use if the loopholes around it are not rectified. “The initiative is good, but when we talk about safety, I feel it is quite risky as we still have to venture out of the metro stations late at night on the streets with no street lights, and depend on transport options beyond the metro which are not reliable,” said a student, on the case of anonymity.