BANGALORE: Be it connectivity, user friendliness and for others, the cost - the Reach 1 of the Bangalore Metro has failed to achieve the best transportation tag, even six months after starting operations. A reality check reveals that even people living around the 6.7 km stretch are not taking the Metro.The reasons vary from bad end-toend connectivity, unfriendly attitude of the staff and even cost effectiveness.Each station can accommodate more than 40,000 passengers, but between 1 pm to 6 pm, there are barely a handful of people taking the metro.Even during peak hours, the maximum number of passengers that the Metro carries per trip is limited to not more than 60. “I stay in Indiranagar and work at M G Road. I thought that the Metro would be my solution to all the trouble I would take to get to work and back.But I have to walk almost for 15 minutes to the station and then another 10 minutes to office from the M G Road station. I save around 20 minutes by travelling in the Metro, but from the stations to my home/office, the same time is consumed. Besides, the cost difference of travelling in an auto as compared to taking the Metro is not really big,” argued Lekha Srinivas, an advertiser.Experts too have claimed that unless the BMRCL looks at better end-to-end connectivity, in collaboration with either the big corporates or the government, commuters will always chose another means of transport over the Metro.“The problem with the Metro is the lack of continued connectivity. The Metro right now is not a full proper solution to the traffic woes or commuters who want to get to destinations lying on the Reach 1 stretch. Last mile connectivity is what they should work on to get better commuter turnout.Further, pedestrian access needs to be increased and they need to closely study how commuters are using the Reach I to implement innovative ideas for better use by commuters for the rest of the stretches,” said Naresh Narasimhan, urban architect and expert. Operating between 6 am to 10 pm, the Reach 1 connects M G Road to Byappanahalli, with a total of six stations.The Reach 1, that is a part of the East-West corridor of the Phase I cost the BMRCL over Rs 1,500 crore. It was launched on October 20, last year.The Phase I has a network of 42.3 kms, 8.8 kms of which will be underground on the East-West and North- West corridors with a total of 40 stations.The deadline set for the completion of Phase I is December 2013.
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