Hop to Namma Metro to Board Train or Bus at Majestic, Bangalore
Traffic situation is famous in Bangalore and we all know. What I want to show today is, how to get around it. Let me share with you about my recent trip to Hyderabad, where I needed to board the Rajdhani express from Majestic railway station at 8 PM. But I had only about an hour in hand to reach there from Indiranagar. I was thrilled as I had never traveled on a Rajdhani train. But this time cramp made me worried thinking if I will be even able to board the train. The complete route of this train is from Bangalore to Delhi (Hazrat Nizamuddin station). The train showed 11h 35m to complete the journey for a distance of 707 KM. This made me to think, is this Rajdhani little slow! However, I was looking forward to journey. I was planning to board the train from Cantonment station of Bangalore. However at around 6 PM I noticed that there is no stoppage at Cantonment station and I will have to board at Majestic railway station. It was a Friday and the evening rush hour make it impossible for me to board the train within that time. Then the thought of Metro train came to mind. At that moment, Metro train was only real option of boarding the train. We left house and boarded an Auto for Indiranagar Metro station. Rushed through the checking and proceed to the platform. At 7.25 PM we boarded a Metro train and in flat 20 minutes reached Majestic station. While leaving the station, my mother’s Metro card was on low currency and had to be topped up. This ate few minutes. Now starts the run!!
After coming out of the Majestic Metro station, we had to walk little bit and take the subway to the railway station. The subway had quite a few steps on both ways and the rush was not easy for her. But she did an amazing run for her age and knee pain she has. when we reached the station building, there were only 6 minutes left. I quickly found that the Rajdhani express leaves from platform number 8 which is on the other end and makes my run longer. We quickly got on the overbridge from platform #1 and kept moving. Platform #8 was in sight and the red train, typical of a Rajdhani train was still there. However, after bending back my mother was not in sight. I waited a minute but still no sight of her. I started moving back to look for her. At that moment the only thing reigned on my mind was are we going to miss the train after reaching here. At that time hardly 1 minute left. Suddenly, I saw she was climbing the stairs for platform # 6. She called for me and I asked quickly come over, ours is the next platform. I showed her the way and rushed towards the platform. Now, I am right in front of the train and the a gate two to three meters away. Mom quickly climbed down the stairs. I quickly helped her to board the first compartment we saw and then I boarded with the luggage. We boarded a 2 tier AC compartment, where as our ticket was for a 3 tier compartment. We had to walk almost 10 compartments to reach our seats. We boarded this way as we can walk through the train to reach our seat. We took a sigh of relief after sitting on a seats. It was a bit of negligence on my part and I thoroughly apologize to my mother. Also, I thank god for taking care of this.
Metro train as mass rapid transport system for Bangalore is certainly a big boon. As of now the east – west corridor is complete and small section from Mantri Mall to Peenya is running. It is already making a difference by enabling people to reach destination quickly. Once the entire project is completed, it will be a huge enabler for citizens of Bangalore.
Note: This pics were taken on an earlier ride on metro.