Day 1: Metromania hits Bengaluru!

Oct 21, 2011 - Chandrashekar G. |

Bengaluru

Tags:

Namma metro

Technology Capital Bengaluru on Thursday became the first south Indian city to boast of a metro rail service.

Amid much fanfare, Union urban development minister Kamal Nath flagged off the long-awaited Namma Metro to a modest beginning — a single 7-km line from Byappanahalli to MG Road became operational.

One could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from Bengaluru — a city long frustrated with its traffic woes — at the opening of the service. Between 4 pm, when the service was opened for public, and 10 pm, some 50,000 citizens — from young children to senior citizens — experienced the Metro for the first time.

And a good ride, it was. A little jerky, a little bumpy, but what the heck, compared to what Bengalureans undergo on the city’s tortuous roads, this virtually was heaven — 7 km in under 10 minutes, and helpful
BMRC staff.

It is arguably the best thing to happen to Bengaluru in a long time —— ask railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and his deputy K.H. Muniyappa, who missed the inauguration because they were stuck in city traffic!

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