In a city ruled by chaos, when it comes to public transport systems, Delhi Metro has proved to be a blessing since its introduction in December 2002.
But what was catering to 82,000/day on a single line is now ferrying 20 lakh/day on 7 lines. According to DMRC, the frequency of trains is 2 mins or less during peak hours and 3-4 mins during non-peak hours and the approx. number of passengers is 1800 in a 6 car train at any given point of time.
Making matters worse are people on platforms especially at transit stations like Rajiv Chowk which sees at least four-five trains arriving or departing every couple of minutes.
Empirically calculated, this means the number of passengers is a little over five lakhs in 17 hours (6 am-11 pm), i.e 30,000 per hour! This is discounting early morning (6-8 am) and late evening (9-11 pm) passengers. Yet the Metro is managing. The point is for how long?
A transport system which has garnered unqualified praise for sheer efficiency and punctuality is now being talked about for rising footfalls, mishaps and delays in frequency
Is the City’s lifeline beginning to collapse under its own weight? Is Metro now paying the price for comfort, convenience, safety and reliability that it is providing? Metrolife explores gravity of overcrowding in trains, more so in view of upcoming monsoon, which will surely increase the number of footfalls.
There have been cases of accidents too due to lack of civic sense towards fellow passengers. Akshita Khosla, a 20-year old student who got run over by a crowd at New Delhi Railway station but has lived to share her tale of horror reminisces, “My friends and I had a lot of luggage and I got scared and moved back into the coach at the sight of the crowds just before deboarding.
My friend came back to take me but in that split second, the crowd pushed us out and both of us fell. We kept shouting for help but people trampled us to get onboard. By the time they stopped, we were badly hurt. Now I never board a crowded train but end up getting late as a result.”
Is switching to another transport system an alternate? Ankita Gupta, a student of Kamala Nehru College says, “I used to travel from Dwarka to college by bus route no. 764. But during CWG, bluelines were banned which reduced the number of buses. So I switched to Metro but after CWG, I tried AC buses but they make unnecessary stops.
The technical snags are aplenty and buses breakdown frequently. Sealed windows make for a very suffocating ride when the AC is switched off - which is often. And, they are unpunctual!” Delhi Metro for its part, is probably the most punctual city rail transport system anywhere in the world - with 99.97 per cent punctuality.
There are also those who don’t prefer Metro because it is over-crowded but end up taking it during monsoon. Pradeep Kumar, a photographer, prefers buses but switches to Metro when in a rush and during monsoon. “Metro is cheaper and faster but I never find space.”
The situation is grave. How is DMRC planning to tackle this growing problem? Anuj Dayal, chief PRO, DMRC says, “With increased population there has been over-crowding at transit stations. The upcoming Phase III will clear this rush. By the end of Phase III (which will come up in 3-4 years) Metro will take on a load of 4 million passengers – double the number carried today.”
But won’t Delhi’s population have also increased by then? “Phase III will use a more advanced technology system, Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) which allows faster transportation. But till it gets functional, we are increasing the number of coaches from 6 to 8 per train.” In the interim, start praying for zero mishaps, civic sense and less crowds.