Bengaluru Metro transported a donor heart from Goraguntepalya to Mantri Square on Wednesday, helping doctors avoid potential delays caused by road traffic and complete the journey to Apollo Hospital through a coordinated rail-and-road transfer.
The heart was donated at Sparsh Hospital in Goraguntepalya and had to be taken to Apollo Hospital near Mantri Square. According to Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) officials, the medical team decided to use the Green Line after considering the possibility that congestion could delay the transfer by road.
Doctors discussed the plan with BMRCL officials before bringing the heart to Goraguntepalya Metro station at 2.20 pm. BMRCL staff and members of the hospital’s medical team then carried it into a Metro train at 2.22 pm.
The train reached Mantri Square station in 18 minutes. The heart was taken out of the Metro there and transferred to an emergency vehicle for the final journey to Apollo Hospital.
The operation required coordination between the hospitals, medical personnel and Metro staff. The use of the Green Line allowed the longest part of the transfer between the two Metro stations to take place without exposure to road congestion, while the last leg to the hospital was completed by an emergency vehicle.
BMRCL officials said that, including Wednesday’s heart transfer, six life-saving organs have so far been transported on Bengaluru Metro. These include one liver, three hearts and one pair of lungs. The agency did not provide further details about the recipients or the medical procedures involved in the latest transfer.
The incident highlights the role that an urban rail network can play in time-sensitive medical logistics when road travel is vulnerable to unpredictable congestion. In this case, Metro was used as part of a coordinated emergency movement rather than as a standalone replacement for an ambulance, with medical teams managing the transfer at both stations and an emergency vehicle completing the final connection to the hospital.
The latest transfer was completed on the Green Line between Goraguntepalya and Mantri Square stations. No further operational details or additional timelines were provided by BMRCL in the report.
