[Fauji]

Cool stuff, Narayan. Thanks for sharing. I am waiting to go on a ride soon. Since the present loop goes through Cantonement area, it should be providng nice sights. Bangalore is still green and beautiful in these parts.

[suhaas307]

Jumped onto the Metro today for a little joy-ride. A few points on this:

- It's a bit slower than I expected. There was a lot of talk about getting to Bypanahalli from MG Road in 8-12 minutes or something like that. the entire journey for me, right from getting into the station at Bypanahalli, into the train, and then getting off at MG Road took about 30 minutes or so.

- You can't keep the tokens that you get. You have to hand them back. I would have liked to keep it! And I personally know several others who would. But I guess it makes no difference, really.

- The pillars and the entire structure, actually, still wears that raw cement look. Something must be done about it, because it looks aesthetically hideous. Don't tell me it can't be done. The Airport-Road/Domlur flyover has a nice coat of two-tone paint that helps it blend with the surroundings nicely! Again, this probably makes no difference, but it's just an observation.

- The train itself is quite narrow actually. Feels narrower than BMTC buses (or should we say, BTS buses?) of yore.

[WindRide]

Hope no one falls onto the tracks or tries to cross plaforms "indian" style. Bangalore metro uses 110V DC traction with a “third rail” feeder . This implies if you slip onto the track you will get severe electric shock unlike Delhi metro which uses overhead 22KV AC traction.

Hence the gap between carriage and platform i mentioned earlier is of grave concern.

[Damu]

Originally Posted by WindRide

...Hence the gap between carriage and platform i mentioned earlier is of grave concern.

Last evening, our neighbours and we took the Metro to M G Road to our club. We wanted to avoid driving back from the club. My neighbour is from Delhi and he observed and pointed out the same thing - he says Delhi Metro has no gap between the coach and the platform.

I'm sure there must be some reason why there is a gap, perhaps in future coaches will be wider?

Our experience was overall a positive one.

There was a big crowd at Byappanahalli but there was no hold up anywhere. I already had my card which I had bought via the website, but my friend was able to buy their cards (two), and I topped my card for another Rs. 200, all within 5 minutes. This was in spite of the rush, so that's good management.

All direction boards were clear so there was no confusion.

On the two sharp curves at Byappanahalli and SV Road, I could hear and feel the wheels on the tracks, this disappeared when the track was straight.

It seemed the a/c was either off or improperly set, it was pretty warm inside. It was lot cooler at M G Road when we alighted.

Getting off at M G Road, the police have made a pedestrian crossing, so crossover was smooth, but it is imperative that the Plaza station gets operational soon, the traffic on M G Road is seriously affected.

Personally we benefit enormously because we live just 5 minutes walk from the rear of Byappanahalli station, but definitely it will have wider impact when the Phase 1 is complete.

Overall, we were very happy. Very proud of "Namma Metro"!

EDIT: We thought the Metro would be running till 11 pm so we left our club at 10 pm and received an unpleasant surprise - the service was only till 10 pm! We had to then get to begging auto drivers to take us home!

I hope the BMRCL extends the service at least till 11 pm, I for one don't mind paying a premium after 10 pm. BMRCL can charge 25% more for 10 pm to 12 midnight.

[normally_crazy]

Damn - I am jealous ! The Mumbai Metro is still a dream....a never ending one !

[Damu]

Originally Posted by Damu

Last evening,...

Oops! My sincere apologies, don't know how that "I'm stupid" got up at the top of the post, it wasn't intended!

Sorry folks!

[lambuhere1]

OT :

One query though.

Can we get down at intermediate stations even though the tickets were bought end to end ?

Say, I get the ticket from MG Road to CMH. Can we get down at halasuru ? Just wondering

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by WindRide

Hope no one falls onto the tracks or tries to cross plaforms "indian" style. Bangalore metro uses 110V DC traction with a “third rail” feeder . This implies if you slip onto the track you will get severe electric shock unlike Delhi metro which uses overhead 22KV AC traction.

Hence the gap between carriage and platform i mentioned earlier is of grave concern.

The third rail feeds power only from the bottom side. It's top and two sides will be insulated, so touching/falling on it won't cause electrocution - unless someone deliberately touches the bottom part of the rail!

I am not advocating crossing of tracks, this is just for info!

[Damu]

Originally Posted by lambuhere1

...Can we get down at intermediate stations even though the tickets were bought end to end ? Say, I get the ticket from MG Road to CMH. Can we get down at halasuru ? Just wondering

Yes, you can.

Yesterday, people were both boarding and alighting at intermediate stations (CMH, Halasur, Trinity).

In fact, I think one group was headed for Lido theatre because a large number of them got off at Halasur and we got seating thereafter.

For smart cards, your cost of travel is deducted from the embedded ticket value at the station you exit the Metro. Also, smart card travel is cheaper than buying spot ticket (token) - Rs. 12.75 as against Rs. 15.

http://bmrc.co.in/pdf/news/fare.pdf

.

[am1m]

Been using the Metro to get to work for a week now. Observations:

1. Far less stressful than using the bike or car. I'm in a much better mood when I get to work and when I get back home. We avoided the city center on weekends for years because of the traffic and the lack of parking, but that's changed thanks to the Metro. Rediscovering bookstores, restaurants, and pubs on MG Road!

2. The Feeder Bus from MG Road is the only weak link. 3 days, the same feeder bus number went on 3 different routes! But there are indications that it will improve. No problem with Feeder buses to/from the Byapanahalli station.

3. Hardly any crowd on non-holidays. Quite a rush on the weekend and on the Deepavali holiday, especially at the MG Road station. That should disappear once the "novelty" value wears off. If you are using the Metro over the weekend, head to MG Road early and start back only after 9 PM (and of course before 10, when the Metro service stops for the day).

4. Pedestrian over bridges are a must for each station. There is provision for them, just need to be completed.

5. A few posts expressed concern over the gap between the coach and the platform. I don't see it as much of a concern, hardly notice it when stepping into the train. But I guess it may be something to be aware of when traveling with young children.

So, assuming you can use the Byapanahalli-MG Road Phase I of the Metro, in my opinion:

a. The Metro is for you now if you are just waiting for an alternative that allows you to avoid the absolute mess that Bangalore traffic has become, can spare some extra time for the daily commute, and don't mind walking a bit to/from the bus stops and within the terminals.

b. Wait a bit till the last-mile-connectivity aspect improves if being at a destination at a particular time each day is an absolute must.

[NPV]

While waiting for the signal at Suranjan Das Road - Old Madras Road junction last week, saw one train go from Baiyappanahalli towards MG Road and before the signal turned green saw one from the opposite direction

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by Damu

EDIT: We thought the Metro would be running till 11 pm so we left our club at 10 pm and received an unpleasant surprise - the service was only till 10 pm! We had to then get to begging auto drivers to take us home!

I hope the BMRCL extends the service at least till 11 pm, I for one don't mind paying a premium after 10 pm. BMRCL can charge 25% more for 10 pm to 12 midnight.

That's odd!

I stay about 2 minutes from the Metro station on CMH Road, and I get to see the train whiz past us from my terrace, and I could have sworn I saw it go by, not once or twice, but several, several times, even after 12 am. Test runs, probably? Or they might have forgotten to turn it off.

Originally Posted by am1m

4. Pedestrian over bridges are a must for each station. There is provision for them, just need to be completed.

They are waiting to start work on the terminal on the other side of MG Road. Unfortunately, there seems to be some dispute regarding the property that once used to be the Plaza Theatre.

[Damu]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

..I get to see the train whiz past us from my terrace, and I could have sworn I saw it go by, not once or twice, but several, several times, even after 12 am. Test runs, probably? Or they might have forgotten to turn it off.

If they have extended the timings that's really good news. It will increase the value of the service. Since the M G Road/Brigade Road area has so many popular pubs and restaurants, at least those people bound towards East can use the Metro instead of their vehicles.

Incidentally, I too live just a short walk away from the rear entrance of Byapannahalli Metro and from my bedroom window I can see the roof of the Metro shed. Every night I hear the unique "toot toot" of the Metro cars as they are parked (I think) for the night. This used to happen around 2215 hrs, but of late I have been hearing this after 2300 hrs so you could be right. I hope so!

As I had mentioned earlier, charging 25% more after 10 pm would be acceptable to all I'm sure.

[wildon]

Now Pay and Park is going to be introduced in Byappanahalli Metro Station effective from 1st April 2012 (Initially i thought some one put this advance for April Fool)

Here is a pic from the Parking entrance. So now Metro ride is going to the expensive with full day parking

[pganapathy]

Paid parking in the metro stations is not a bad thing but unfortunately it is only in Byapanahalli at the moment from what I can see. All the other stations are just terminal spots on main roads with no provision (unless neighbouring buildings are torn down) for parking.

The other good thing if the parking rates are cheap, is that it will encourage people to use the metro more, even if their area does not have great metro bus connectivity as they can ride or drive to the metro station.

So looking forward to the metro service being extended as the present one really serves very few people on a daily basis unless you work close to MG road and come from the Byapanahalli / Indiranagar area.

I used to work on MG road and used the Metro daily until the office was moved recently. It was so much more convenient as there was no traffic stress.