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From QR codes to rainwater harvesting, company funding to organ transport, Namma Metro is about setting benchmarks via innovation.
The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has rolled out QR-code primarily based ticket reserving throughout 12 digital platforms. (Image: PTI)
Bengaluru Metro has steadily emerged as certainly one of India’s most progressive city transit techniques. It has seen delays and hurdles in constructing over robust terrain, in addition to delays in coaches that pushed the launch deadlines of varied strains by years. Yet, one can not miss the truth that Bengaluru’s Namma Metro has experimented with a number of types of innovation and has been profitable at that as nicely.
From QR-code primarily based ticket reserving throughout digital platforms to rainwater harvesting, company CSR-backed stations, WhatsApp chatbot-based ticketing, and even driverless coaches following Delhi Metro’s lead, Namma Metro has pushed the envelope. Full-body ad-wrapped trains to spice up non-fare income, and integration with cultural and leisure areas and industrial malls additional set it aside.
What units Namma Metro aside isn’t just the adoption of know-how or eco-friendly practices; it’s how these improvements are being utilized in ways in which have an effect on the every day lives of commuters, city infrastructure, and even emergency healthcare.
We check out Namma Metro’s distinctive initiatives. Top on the listing consists of its first-time-in-India position within the time-critical transport of human organs. These dwell organs had been transported in file time throughout the town, which, if highway transport had been used, would have been delayed by a number of minutes. Valuable time was saved, and the way in which a mix of metro and ambulance was used set a brand new precedent in India for the way the metro may very well be used actually to “beat the visitors.”
QR Codes and Digital Ticketing: The New Normal
The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has rolled out QR-code primarily based ticket reserving throughout 12 digital platforms. This step is available in partnership with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), permitting commuters to e-book metro tickets utilizing a broader vary of apps.
So, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Yellow Line of Bengaluru Metro on August 10, 2025, he personally used the QR code-based ticketing utility to journey on the hall. For every day commuters, this implies a seamless journey from doorstep to vacation spot utilizing a single app, saving each effort and time. QR code-enabled ticket merchandising machines have additionally been put in at Byappanahalli metro station to additional scale back congestion at counters. These self-service kiosks dispense paper tickets embedded with QR codes, streamlining the ticketing course of for 1000’s of customers daily.
Rainwater Harvesting: Metro as a Green Utility
Among Namma Metro’s eco-initiatives, rainwater harvesting (RWH) is seen as a serious innovation and a much-needed integration. But the full-fledged undertaking is but to take off. While BMRCL sources say that RWH is being carried out in two main depots — Byappanahalli and Peenya — plans are afoot to develop throughout stations. For Bengaluru, a metropolis the place water conservation is essential, each drop falling on the Metro hall is redirected to recharge groundwater, addressing the town’s continual water scarcity and plunging water tables.
When the undertaking was mentioned, BMRCL had floated a ₹65 lakh tender to retrofit RWH alongside over 70 km of purple and inexperienced strains, however it’s but to materialize. It is learnt that BMRCL is now revisiting the plan, with professional consultations from TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) and EMPRI (Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute) to evaluate sensible challenges.
According to BMRCL sources, Bengaluru’s geology makes it difficult to dig recharge wells, however BMRCL plans to assemble these alongside medians underneath Phase 2A and 2B viaducts. New depots underneath building may even embody RWH wherever possible, making Metro one of many few city utilities actively contributing to water conservation within the metropolis.
Critical Organ Transport: Metro as Life Saver
Namma Metro has additionally stepped into an space few city transit techniques dare to enter—time-critical medical transport. In August 2025, the Metro efficiently transported a human liver from Vydehi Hospital at Whitefield to Sparsh Hospital at R.R. Nagar utilizing a mix of ambulance and metro, considerably reducing down journey time throughout peak hours.
On September 11, a human coronary heart was transported by way of Namma Metro from Yeshwanthpur to South End Circle en path to Apollo Hospital. The operation, executed in simply 20 minutes throughout seven stations, concerned meticulous coordination between hospital groups and metro safety personnel. According to BMRCL, Train ID 12, Train Set 29 carried the center, with the Assistant Security Officer guaranteeing a transparent hall for the operation. This innovation positions Namma Metro not simply as a commuter utility however as a essential a part of Bengaluru’s healthcare logistics.
Corporate-Backed Stations: Financing Innovation
Another effort to boost funds as delays elevated prices pressured Namma Metro to succeed in out to corporations via a corporate-backed funding mannequin for stations. In March 2014, the primary corporate-backed metro station hooked up to a mall—the Mantri Mall Square station—was in-built Bengaluru. Later, different metro stations had been additionally related to malls in North Bengaluru at Yeshwanthpur. But the main transfer to make use of company funds in alternate for naming rights and constructing stations was seen within the Yellow Line.
Starting with the Yellow Line, corporations sponsor building in alternate for naming rights, promoting house, devoted walkways, and industrial areas. This mannequin permits BMRCL to cut back dependence on loans whereas creating non-fare income alternatives.
Infosys Foundation funded the Rs 200-crore Konappana Agrahara station in 2017, with a direct walkway to its campus. Biocon Foundation contributed Rs 65 crore for the Hebbagodi station in 2020, and Delta Electronics invested Rs 65 crore in Bommasandra terminal in 2024. All stations carry the company sponsor’s identify alongside the placement. This strategy will not be solely a monetary technique however a blueprint for integrating public infrastructure with non-public sector sources.
Double-Decker Flyovers and Urban Integration
The Yellow Line has additionally introduced the town’s first Metro-cum-road hall from Ragi Gudda to Silk Board. Originally proposed in 2017 to ease congestion throughout key junctions like Jayadeva and BTM Layout, the double-decker flyover combines Metro tracks with vehicular motion. BMRCL opened a 5 km stretch from Ragi Gudda to Silk Board final 12 months, together with ramps over the Silk Board overpass, whereas the elevated highway from HSR Layout to Ragi Gudda is anticipated to open by end-2025.
The new Jayadeva interchange station, six ranges excessive with 20,000 sqm built-up space, would be the tallest station in Bengaluru, dealing with as much as 25,000 passengers throughout peak hours. The undertaking required the demolition of the 2005 flyover, inflicting short-term bottlenecks, however the integration guarantees seamless connectivity between Metro, roads, and surrounding neighborhoods.
Digital Structural Monitoring: Smart Maintenance
Namma Metro additionally launched digital structural monitoring to examine and keep infrastructure. Using specialised sensors, AI, and 3D modeling, the system can detect structural weaknesses early, lowering restore prices and avoiding service disruptions. This know-how ensures security whereas extending the lifetime of metro belongings—a mannequin few city transit techniques in India at the moment make use of.
Full-Body Ad-Wrapped Trains: Non-Fare Revenue Boost
BMRCL has additionally tapped into progressive income streams via full-body ad-wrapped trains on the Purple and Green Lines. Entire trains are used as shifting promoting areas, creating non-fare income whereas retaining passenger utility. This strategy displays Metro’s broader technique of leveraging its infrastructure for a number of city advantages past transit.
WhatsApp Chatbot and ONDC Platforms
The Metro’s embrace of digital comfort extends to WhatsApp. BMRCL’s chatbot permits passengers to buy tickets and recharge journey passes immediately inside WhatsApp, with UPI-based funds. The service, out there in English and Kannada, is a worldwide first for end-to-end QR ticketing by way of WhatsApp.
“This is a primary in Asia and has been a serious milestone for Namma Metro, “ defined the BMRCL official. “Passengers can recharge journey passes, purchase single tickets, examine up to date fares, choose origin and vacation spot, and entry timetables—all inside the app,” the official added.
Driverless Coaches and Beyond
Following Delhi Metro, Namma Metro has plans to introduce driverless coaches on sure stretches. However, these trains have confronted delays, and as of now, providers are nonetheless being operated by driver-run coaches.
Titagarh Rail Systems Limited (TRSL), which designs and manufactures the driverless trains for Bengaluru Metro’s Yellow Line (Electronic City) hall, has stated it’s assured of delivering two driverless trains per 30 days for the Yellow Line ranging from August. These trains are anticipated to supply safer and extra environment friendly operations whereas releasing up human sources for different essential capabilities.
The undertaking was initially scheduled for completion by December 2021 however confronted a number of setbacks, together with delays in land acquisition, the COVID-19 pandemic, and hold-ups in rolling inventory provide from Chinese producer CRRC Nanjing. Trains on the Yellow Line have additionally been working late as a consequence of technical points, in keeping with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).
Combined with QR code ticketing, digital structural monitoring, and full-body ad-wrapped trains producing non-fare income, the introduction of driverless coaches would additional place Namma Metro as certainly one of India’s most superior transit techniques.
Rohini Swamy, Associate Editor at News18, has been a journalist for almost twenty years within the tv and digital house. She covers south India for News18’s digital platform. She has beforehand labored with t…Read More
Rohini Swamy, Associate Editor at News18, has been a journalist for almost twenty years within the tv and digital house. She covers south India for News18’s digital platform. She has beforehand labored with t… Read More
September 25, 2025, 11:23 IST
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