BENGALURU: For the past few months, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) has been frequently curtailing services on the Byappanahalli-MG Road section on Saturday nights, citing maintenance work.
On June 25, Metro services were suspended between Byappanahalli and MG Road stations from 9.30pm till 7am the next day. Similar curtailment of services was effected on May 28, April 23, March 26, and in previous months.
Many passengers said the closure of services on weekends is causing hardship, especially for those coming from areas such as Whitefield, Byappanahalli, Ramamurthy Nagar, Kasturi Nagar, Outer Ring Road and other parts to the Central Business District for a night out.
"Why are services on this section regularly suspended on Saturdays? Earlier, BMRCL used to arrange free BMTC shuttle service between affected sections. Now there are no such arrangements. BMRCL should also clarify whether there are any structural issues in this section. There is heavy traffic on Saturday nights and a shortage of cabs. Auto drivers also refuse to ply", said Anusha S, a regular passenger.
On December 9, 2018, BMRCL detected "a minor aberration in girder alignment" following a honeycomb concrete defect in a viaduct beam above pier 155 near Trinity station. The corporation, along with an external agency, conducted a quality audit of Metro Phase 1 civil structures. Sources said the bearing pads of several pillars were damaged on the 6.7-km, six-station stretch between Byappanahalli and MG Road, constructed by the Hyderabad-based contractor Navayuga Engineering Co Ltd.
BMRCL officials said they are suspending services to take up maintenance work to replace the bearing pads. "In Phase 2, bearing pads of much better quality are being used. For instance, in the Silk Board-KR Puram-KIA line, long-lasting bearings are being planned, similar to the ones used in Richmond Road flyover", said a BMRCL official.
According to experts, the life span of bearings depends on the volume of traffic and load on them.
Routine maintenance work, says BMRCL MD
BMRCL managing director Anjum Parwez said: "The Byappanahalli-MG Road Metro section has been operational since 2011. Bearings are prone to wear and tear due to frequent train movement and should ideally be replaced every 8-12 years. This work takes only a few hours. But we are taking it up in a phased manner instead of shutting down an entire section for a long duration. There are no major structural issues. If there were any, we would not even be running trains".
Suryanarayana Murthy, vice-president of Bangalore Metro Rail Employees Union, said the bearings of more than 10 piers have been replaced in the section so far. "There should be an investigation into why they were damaged so quickly and whether there was any compromise on the civil construction" he said.
