Never realised the Bangalore Namma Metro would bring about such a drastic change to my travel patterns. Its been 2 weeks since I've shunned road transport almost completely. I think others should try and do so too. Instead of spending 90 to 100 minutes on a BMTC bus on either of the routes between Ulsoor and ITPL (Old Madras Road or Domlur), its now just a matter of less than 60 minutes (including about 20 minutes of brisk walk).
And I am loving it.
Halasuru to Baiyappanahalli - 15 minutes
The Halasuru Metro station is a 5 minute walk from my house. The ride to Baiyappanahalli takes about 10 minutes. The Metro is clean, punctual and the staff are courteous; Bangalore finally has a world class public transport system an it is about time.
Baiyappanahalli to Whitefiled - 20 minutes
At the Baiyappanahalli Metro station, an exit takes you directly to the platform of the South Western Railway designated passenger rail station Baiyappanahalli (BYPL). A quick research at
http://indiarailinfo.com/search/3331/993?kkk=1320515936164 prompted me to choose between one of the following two trains depending on when I wanted to be in office,
a) passenger to Bangarpet at 0725 hours
b) passenger to Arakkonam at 0940 hours
Baiyappanahalli railway station is fairly well maintained. The trains have so far been fairly well behaved too, with a maximum delay of 10 minutes from the published departure times. Several people board these trains on a daily basis, so there is enough company, but just enough to not deprive you of a seat. The journey time itself has not exceeded 20 minutes so far. By road, this is easily about an hour's worth of commute depending on how bad the situation is at the KR Puram bridge.
Whitefield to ITPL - 10 minutes
Once the train arrives at WFD, the walk from the WFD station platform to Kadugodi BMTC bus stand takes about 3 minutes. This is probably the only stretch in this whole endeavor, that might not be everybody's piece of cake. You need enough acrobatic skills especially if a freight train is stranded on the rails blocking the entry to the bus stand. I see an opportunity here for the Indian Railways to provide a bridge to connect directly to the Kadugodi bus stand.
Buses at the Kadugodi terminal are aplenty. Especially of convenience is the 335E Volvo to ITPL (3 stops away at about 10 minutes).
This is what it costs me,
a) 10 Rs. (discounted trip card) from Halasuru to Baiyappanahalli on the Metro
b) 85 Rs. for a monthly 2 way season ticket (this is really cheap)
c) 10 Rs. for a Volvo from Kadugodi to ITPL
Its not like I discovered gravity; there are hundreds of people already taking the trains (the non-Metro kind) from Bangalore City junction to Whitefield. Its just that the Metro has thrown this additional window of opportunity to those willing to take it in order to deal with the congestion on the roads.
Namma Metro is now Nanna Metro. You should make it yours too. You will love it.