JOIN USThe Delhi Metro achieved another milestone on Monday with nearly 30 lakh commuters travelling on its network throughout the day – courtesy the strike by DTC employees.
The rush, however, subdued on Tuesday as the Delhi Transport Corporation workers called off the strike on the second day on Tuesday. “Compared to Monday, the crowd was manageable today,” said a Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) official.
Almost everybody from schoolchildren, office-goers to revellers took the Metro on Monday, taking its ridership to an all-time high. Before this the DMRC had recorded the highest ridership of over 28 lakh passengers last year.
The DMRC said trains also made extra trips on each corridors on Monday. “Extra ticket counters were opened at Badarpur and Tuglakabad stations on the Violet Line to meet the rush,” the official said.
He added DMRC had also pressed more feeder buses to provide last-mile connectivity to commuters. “In all 227 feeder buses were deployed on 30 routes across the city.” The DMRC had instructed station staff to keep additional number of tokens to tackle the crowd, especially at main intersections. “The stations that usually see heavy footfall were provided with additional tokens,” he said.
Till 8 pm on Monday, the Metro recorded an increase in ridership by some two lakh. Usually on Mondays, the average ridership is 21 lakh till 8 pm. “But it reached 22.92 lakh till 8 pm yesterday; an increase of about 1.92 lakh,” said the official.