Green Line sees heavy rush on Day 1

The overwhelming response to metro’s new stretch of Green Line on Sunday took officials at Yelachenahalli station off guard, as they tried to cope with the serpentine queues at ticket counters.

As the first train left the station, those still waiting in the queues started shouting at metro staff for not providing tickets quickly.

Many had come to the station “sacrificing” the India-Pakistan cricket match.  There were eight ticket counters, but only four were functioning, upon the instructions of the chief security officer (CSO). This was not enough to deal with the rush.

BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola, who happened to be at the station, took the CSO to task for not opening all the counters. “If there is no manpower, bring additional staff from those stations where there is no crowd,” he told the officer. 

“We thought the cricket match will take away half of the crowd. This is surprising. If this is the situation on a lean day, I am a little apprehensive about what is going to happen in the coming days. The real test for us begins after a week when more people get used to metro,” he said.

Kharola, however, was quick to add that the corporation will assess the demand and take steps to ensure that people get timely service.

Back on the platform, those who couldn’t make it on the first train were waiting for the next. And there was a competition of sorts to be at the edge of the platform. The security staff had a tough time preventing the crowd from crossing the yellow line.

The new stretch between Sampige Road and Yelachenahalli, which opened at 4 pm on Sunday, boosted the ridership on Green Line, which clocked 50,000 passengers by 9.30 pm.