[Gansan]

Cost of travel is a big issue as well. I don't know about Bangalore fares, but in Chennai at present only a 10 KM stretch of phase I is operational, and costs Rs 40.00 per trip end to end. If one uses smart card, costs 10% less.

The reports say almost the full phase I will be opened by Aug'16. Now, I am mulling about putting my son in Chennai Public School at Anna Nagar next academic year onwards. For this, he will have to travel from home till St.Thomas Mount (~ 10 KM) by EMU @ Rs 100.00 per month, buying season ticket by ordinary class. If he buys first class, Rs 500.00 per month, but Railways entertains student concession forms given by schools, in which case even the first class pass will cost ~ Rs 100.00 per month.

From St.Thomas Mount he will have to take the metro to Anna Nagar. Now, it will be about eight stations to cover (~ 12 KM), so I expect the fare will be at least Rs 50.00 one way, so Rs 100.00 for a round trip per DAY, as against the Rs 100.00 per MONTH by suburban train.

Metro is meant only to lure people who travel by car/taxi (or at least MTC Volvo) every day, not for those who use public transport.

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by Gansan

From St.Thomas Mount he will have to take the metro to Anna Nagar. Now, it will be about eight stations to cover (~ 12 KM), so I expect the fare will be at least Rs 50.00 one way, so Rs 100.00 for a round trip per DAY, as against the Rs 100.00 per MONTH by suburban train.

In Bangalore, 12 kms means it will take 2 hours to get there in our traffic if you are lucky.

And there is no suburban train either unless one counts the once a day Yeshwantpur Hosur passenger and a few other trains on other routes.

I heard the metro work proceeded at a snail's pace over the past few years because of the extensive tunneling work. Apparently building metro above roads is much faster.

[manduvindupondu]

Lovely. Thanks for the update NPV. I am an eternal optimist and can imagine the wonders Metro can do to Bangalore by 2019 - the deadline for all stretches. I recently travelled the Byappanahalli - MG Road stretch and was amazed by the experience. 3 Cheers to Namma Metro. Hope my city Hyderabad Metro too gets operational soon. Love the healthy competition among cities /states

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by _chikku

Dont jump to conclusions yet. Just check the metro users in nagasandra to mantri square line. Its jam packed during woking days / peak hours. Even in the weekends I see the nagasandra parking lot full of vehicles. I would say metro is going to be choked with passengers when gets connectivity to majestic.

Drawing conclusions based on what I see everyday. Construction may or may not be finished on whatever the current (ever shifting) deadline is, but the lack of last-mile connectivity and parking spaces is a FACT and given the land situation in Bangalore, not something that can be fixed in a hurry even if the authorities intend to later. Heavy usage is not an appropriate marker of success, esp. in India where practical mass transit options are so few and far between that people are forced to use whatever's available, effective & economical or not. It was buses & autos yesterday, cabs/taxis today and will probably be Metro tomorrow when it's eventually completed (hopefully). Our vast population virtually ensures total occupancy at every price point.

The downside of incessant delays in a public project is most of them don't meet the requirement they were built for, when complete. Look at the flyovers along ORR and elsewhere, almost none of them serve the purposes they were built for any longer.

[batterylow]

An informative article on the metro rail, the idea might be difficult to achieve due to various constraints, but this is the way to go. for effort

Excerpts:

Today, everyone in the world except this class, who consider the motorized four-wheeled metal contraption mankind’s greatest invention and the epitome of all kinds of personal greatness, who propose wider roads, new roads, flyovers, underpasses and more of such asphaltic miracles as solutions for traffic problems which only seem to be more aimed towards satiating their car driving cravings rather than solving traffic problems, have realized that we cannot build our way out of traffic jams. More roads will lead only to more cars in an endless cycle of more traffic, more congestion, pollution, wastage of everything from time, money, health and such. Six months after you widen a road you will face double traffic on it. Build a flyover, and you will get traffic jams on and below it. So how do we solve this traffic problem? Public transport? Yes. Public Transport the Indian way? No. When one says “Public Transport”, most people in India today will think Metro trains, which are seen as some kind of magic wand that will solve traffic problems in one stroke. This is also exactly what people in Bangalore wish to believe, that all traffic will magically disappear from Bangalore roads the day the Bangalore Metro is completed. In fact, most people in Bangalore wait for the Metro to be completed not because they can use it to travel, but because they think it will reduce traffic on roads so that they can drive more easily. Nope. Sorry to bake your noodle, but if you are expecting the Metro to magically solve Bangalore’s traffic problems, that ain’t gonna happen. Why?

More

[NPV]

Finally, the much awaited good news for the East-West line (Byappanahalli on old madras road to Nayandahalli on mysore road).
This line will be inaugurated on Friday April 29th and the first commercial run will begin on Saturday 30th April at 6am

It's now official. After days of speculation over the commencement of the underground section of the East-West Corridor, Namma Metro has announced that the inaugural function will be held on April 29 and the first commercial run will take place on April 30.

Source:Metro Undergound Corridor to Open on Friday

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by NPV

Finally, the much awaited good news for the East-West line (Byappanahalli on old madras road to Nayandahalli on mysore road).
This line will be inaugurated on Friday April 29th and the first commercial run will begin on Saturday 30th April at 6am [/url]

When can we clap for South corridor?
Why is it that this is the most neglected of all the corridors?

From the looks of it, most of the work has been completed until the Metro outlet on kanakapura road, but no word on the operation of the line.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

When can we clap for South corridor?
Why is it that this is the most neglected of all the corridors?

From the looks of it, most of the work has been completed until the Metro outlet on kanakapura road, but no word on the operation of the line.

I remember reading in the newspapers that the tunneling work between Mantri mall and Majestic just completed (the interchange is at Majestic where 2 levels of tunnels for East-West and North-South corridors pass through) and after the trials and safety clearances, it is expected to be inaugurated in a few months.
This will help the Peenya line that currently ends at Mantri mall to go further up to Majestic and beyond.

[masin4]

Originally Posted by NPV

I remember reading in the newspapers that the tunneling work between Mantri mall and Majestic just completed (the interchange is at Majestic where 2 levels of tunnels for East-West and North-South corridors pass through) and after the trials and safety clearances, it is expected to be inaugurated in a few months.
This will help the Peenya line that currently ends at Mantri mall to go further up to Majestic and beyond.

I wouldn't be so optimistic,considering the tracks that are being inaugurated the underground breakthroughs were made about 2 years back.Also in this case only 1 tunnel has seen a breakthrough, the other one is still under progress.I am guessing by the pace and the track record thus far it is going to be a long wait to see this stretch getting operational.

[Rajeevraj]

The ability to reach Majestic and also Mysore Road in the Metro will be a big plus for thousands of commuters. Hopefully the North South corridor will also get completed in a few months time and the city will start to see some real benefits from the Metro.

[fordday]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

When can we clap for South corridor?
Why is it that this is the most neglected of all the corridors?

Agree. What I can see from outside is that the work is completed in this south corridor stretch and there even seems to be no workers around for some time now. The stations are dusty because of lying unused and materials corroded in some cases. A new visitor may inclined to think that there was once a metro line here which is now discarded.

This line sort of became an island which could not be started inspite of completing all its work. Goes on to show how much of planning done by BMRCL.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by fordday

Agree. What I can see from outside is that the work is completed in this south corridor stretch and there even seems to be no workers around for some time now. The stations are dusty because of lying unused and materials corroded in some cases. A new visitor may inclined to think that there was once a metro line here which is now discarded.

This line sort of became an island which could not be started inspite of completing all its work. Goes on to show how much of planning done by BMRCL.

+1.

I wonder why? I am guessing is it because this is sort of suburbs, and rest of the corridors were part of the core city.

None of the public reps from this part of the city have taken this up, with the authorities concerned. At times, I feel this line might be in operation after phase II.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

When can we clap for South corridor?
Why is it that this is the most neglected of all the corridors?

From the looks of it, most of the work has been completed until the Metro outlet on kanakapura road, but no word on the operation of the line.

The underground stretch comes over on KR Road. I guess thats the reason for the delay.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by fordday

This line sort of became an island which could not be started inspite of completing all its work. Goes on to show how much of planning done by BMRCL.

Originally Posted by JMaruru

+1.

I wonder why? I am guessing is it because this is sort of suburbs, and rest of the corridors were part of the core city.

One other reason I can think of is challenges with bringing and setting up the train rakes needed to operate on this stretch. Also the maintenance and other associated facilities needed for operations may not have been planned during the design stage in this stretch. The plan may have been to get it operational along with the under ground corridor. As we know the under ground work was stopped for a long time after the cutting head (sorry not sure what it is called) broke and it took nearly a year to import and fix the replacement.

So now I assume they are stuck because the underground corridor is still not done and they do not have the needed infra and facilities to operate the completed south section.

[NPV]

Took a ride on the metro this morning. Byappanahalli to Attiguppe ₹36 and took 35 minutes, perfect! What a stress free commute that can sometimes take upwards of an hour by road in extremely congested traffic.
Last stop is Mysore Road (Nayandahalli), 2 stations away from Attiguppe.
A good way to travel from East to West. Met up with friends who live near vijayanagar and had a breakfast meet
Best part is one can reach the kempegowda bus stand in majestic or the city railway station (metro station is inside the railway station campus) in about 20 minutes from byappanahalli