As many companies resume work from offices in Bengaluru, the city’s metro has been struggling! Videos and photos of overcrowded coaches with doors struggling to close and heavy rush at metro stations have been circulating all over the Internet. Bengaluru Metro Purple Line, which connects Challaghatta in West Bengaluru to Whitefield in East Bengaluru, is one of the worst affected amid this chaos.
Bengaluru Metro Chokes After Companies Resume Work From Office
Tech companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, Flipkart, and TCS have asked their employees in Bengaluru to return to the office for work over the past few weeks. It has been reported that 70% of TCS employees have resumed work from the office. This is mainly due to the company’s new policy of linking variable pay to attendance. This has resulted in massive chaos in the city’s metro lines. According to a report in Moneycontrol, Bengaluru Metro’s Purple Line has choked after the return-to-office mandates were issued in many offices.
Videos and photos of overcrowded coaches and stations, fights among passengers, and trains stopping mid-way can be seen all over social media. Bengaluru Metro’s 43 km long Purple Line has, reportedly, been hit worse because of the growing crowd.
Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) have also noticed a surge in ridership on the Purple Line due to this. As per official data, daily ridership has reached 8 lakh on most weekdays for this line. While talking to Moneycontrol, a BMRCL official said that they are working to ease the congestion on the Purple Line. For now, they have started operating short-loop services from Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Majestic interchange station towards Whitefield.
BMRCL Says New Trains To Be Added By June 2025
Despite having a wide and extensive network of 73 km, Bengaluru Metro has only 57 trains. The good news is that 21 prototype DTG (Distance-To-Go) trains will be dispatched from China in August 2024, as per Moneycontrol’s report. After testing and trial runs, these trains are likely to operate on the Green and Purple Lines. The tentative timeline for this is June 2025. Another set of trains will arrive in the city in 2025, as per BMRCL’s expansion plans.
We hope that the expansion plans of Bengaluru Metro go as planned. This will help reduce and make metro rides easier for people. Have you been travelling on the Purple Line of this metro? Let us know your recent experience in the comments!
Cover Image Courtesy: X/@prajsn7
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