Bangalore Metro – Green Line has been the most awaited launch, as it connects someone of the busiest and the most populated regions of the city.  It also connects some of the oldest part of Bangalore known from our good old MalGudi days i.e., Basavangudi & Malleswaram.  Though it does not cover the complete area but it does go closer which is good.  Many time it is more convenient than taking a taxi, which might be costly or a bus which might be crowded.  I recently traveled on Metro and used both the Green Line and Purple line at the same time.  And I thought of sharing my experience and thoughts.

Lines & Routes
We currently have 2 lines for Metro that is operational – Purple line & Green line.

Purple Line – It has been operational since early April-2016 and it connects Mysore Road to Baiyyappanahalli.  Some of the key stations in that journey starting from Mysore Road Junction, Vijayanagar, Magadi Road, Krantivira Sangoli Rayanna Railways Station, Vidhana Soudha, Cubbon Park, MG Road, Indranagar and Baiyyappanahalli.  The entire ride covers 17 stations across the length of 18.22km.

Green Line – This is the latest route that has been operational since 18June2017 to public and it connects Yelachenahhalli to Nagasandra.  Some of the key stations in that journey starting from Yelachenahalli, Banashankari, Jayanagar, South End Circle, Lalbagh, National College Basavangudi, KR Market, Chickpete, Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station – Majestic, Mantri Square – Sampigehalli Road, Rajajinagar, Yeshwanthpur, Peenya, Jalahalli and Nagasandra.  The entire ride covers 24 stations across the length of 24.20km.

Key Switch Over
The most critical reason for all us to rejoice is the introduction of change-over at Majestic Junction.  This would now connect people from West (Peenya) to South (Banashankari), West (Peenya) to East (Baiyyappanahalli), South (Banashankari) to East (Baiyyappanahalli) and vice-versa.  If we are to travel across South/West towards MG Road/ Baiyyappanahalli  side or vice-versa, all we must do is to get down at Majestic and do the changeover.  You will only need to take one ticket that can be dropped at the destination.

• Let me share few updates regarding the change-over which is useful and is quite cool.
• The journey from Jayanagar to MG Road will span across both the Green Line as well as Purple Line.  First thing to be aware of the mid-point location where you would do changeover i.e., Majestic and the direction of the train you would be boarding.  They have clearly given direction everywhere in the station both in – Kannada & English.
• Be aware of the commentary that is heard while you are on the train.  They tell the next stop that would be arriving.  As you approach Majestic, it’s better to be near the train exit as there would also be people trying to board in while others try getting down.
• At the changeover, you will need to walk across from Green Line to the Purple Line.  There are 2 approaches to the reach the Purple line which runs Perpendicular or crosses the other lines from below.
• Ideally, you would be tempted to take the steps up.  When you do that you might get confused because there would be 2 steps heading down that shows the direction to the Purple line.  One of them would be the same line that you came.  So, soon after you get down look for direction rather than quickly climbing up.
• Platform – 1 & 2 are meant for Purple line, Platform – 3 & 4 are not Green line.  To be more specific and to clear all the doubts, let me share what the board reads.
  • Platform 1 – Towards Baiyyappanahalli.
  • Platform 2 – Towards Mysore Road.
  • Platform 3 – Towards Nagasandra.
  • Platform 4 – Towards Yelachenahhalli.
• If you are coming from Jayanagar, you would be getting down at Platform-3 and heads towards Platform-1.
• The entire setup looks fabulous.  It looks quite modern, stylish and clean.  The temperature inside is well regulated.
• Only thing you will be careful is the commotion caused by other people who are also trying to switch.  Just relax and do whats necessary slowly rather than hurrying and making a mistake.

If you are using the changeover for the first time or the nth time, I would ask you to pause yourself a little at the changeover point while going across Platfrom-1&2 to Platform-3&4 and appreciate the efforts that has gone in by the BMRC engineer.  The engineers have done a stellar job to dig 2 tunnels and crossed routes at the Majestic.

Few Things to remember

• Keep reading the sign board to know the boarding station, stops in between and be aware of the destination.
• Always looks for directions in each station to help in changing routes or even to find the nearest exit.
• Be watchful of opening and closing of door in the rain.  Specially during weekend, when it’s quite crowded due to families attempting to enjoy a metro ride.  It sometimes makes me feel like this small kid who used to like going in the toy-train in Cubbon park.
• Soon after you enter the train, if there are some seats that are empty, don’t hurry to sit on them.  It can lead to someone getting pushed away.  Ideally try letting the Senior/Older people take the seat.
• If it does get crowded in one train, I would advise waiting for next train rather than taking an uncomfortable journey in a crowded Metro.  The frequency is quite good.
• Avoid littering in the train and the stations so we all try to keep our Metro clean.

Frequency / Timings
The trains are operational from morning 6am until 10pm in the evening.  Frequency varies depending on the time of the day.

In the mornings, before 8am trains the frequency is every 15mts.  Then the frequency reduces over time and at the peak hours 9am, the frequency is the highest at every 4mts.  It again increases to every 10mts by afternoon before going back to the highest frequency of every 4mts, at around 6pm.  Later in the evening the frequency increases to every 10mts.

The mentioned frequency has been thought after quite well looking at the commuters and the occupancy of the metro.

More Good Things
There is plenty of space in each of the station at the entry/exist side which are being used for selling retail products.

Eateries are now located closer to metro-stations so it catches people attention while onboarding or off-boarding.

Parking facility at some of the stations where people can park their vehicles for nominal price for the entire day, take the metro if the work-place is a little far and later pick up the vehicle on the way back home.

Overall Experience
It was great experience travelling on the new Green Line and Purple line of Metro.  Though the completion and launch dates got delayed, we can still settle as they have done great job.  The introduction of 2 lines cutting across different parts of city, will help growth and bringing people closer.  We can joking say to our friends & relatives that you are now just couple of metro stops away.  It was good to see multiple sign-boards at stations trying to help out people find their way.  I am hopeful that the other part of the city would also be connected via Metro lines to reduce the commute time and also to increase means of transport.

Kudos to all the engineers who worked tirelessly in bringing up the Bangalore Metro – Green Line & Purple line.

Find further details on Metro from following links.
Namma Metro – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namma_Metro
Map & Timings – http://english.bmrc.co.in/TravelInfos