Five metro stations shut after intense crowds, absolute chaos

Bengaluru: Namma Metro closed five stations after thousands flocked for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's victory celebrations at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

The Cubbon Park metro station, located right next to the stadium, had turned into a hive of activity, with inbound passengers far outnumbering outbound passengers. 

Inbound passengers were made to wait to allow outbound passengers to head out of the station. Only about 20% of the turnstile (Automatic Fare Collection) gates catered to inbound passengers. Many inbound passengers jumped the AFC gates. 

The BMRCL operated four additional train services: two from Whitefield (Kadugodi) to Challaghatta and two short-loop services from Majestic to Baiyappanahalli, its Chief Public Relations Officer BL Yashavanth Chavan  said.  

Some services were terminated at MG Road to ease congestion. 

Around 5 pm, metro trains stopped at every station for 5-8 minutes.

However, when there was no let-up in crowds. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) cancelled stoppages at Cubbon Park and Vidhana Soudha. 

"Due to the extremely high footfall at the Vidhana Soudha and the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, metro trains will not stop at Cubbon Park and Vidhana Soudha stations from 4.30 pm until further notice. Accordingly, token and QR ticket vending services at these stations have been temporarily suspended," it said. 

Passengers supposed to get down at Vidhana Soudha and Cubbon Park alighted at Central College or MG Road stations. 

As the situation turned grim, Central College, MG Road and Trinity stations were also shut. 

At stations, which were still open, metro trains stopped for 5-7 minutes. 

A senior official in the BMRCL said that the decision to cancel stoppages was taken to prevent stampedes. 

"There was a huge rush and a stampede-like situation outside the stations. We just couldn't allow a similar build-up inside, so we closed the stations," the official told DH, speaking anonymously. 

The official explained that underground stations had "space constraints" due to shorter concourses and platforms, and are simply "not designed to take so much crowd". 

The official stressed that "there is no glitch in our system". "We ran short-loop services and deployed extra security personnel, but there's a limit to it," he added. 

After 6 pm, Central College and Trinity stations were the first to reopen. Vidhana Soudha and MG Road followed suit, but only some entries were opened to clear the crowd in a controlled manner. 

The Cubbon Park station was the last to reopen, around 8 pm. 

According to the BMRCL, 8.7 lakh passengers boarded the metro until 9 pm.