Bengaluru: Heavy crowds likely to push metro ridership to record high

Bengaluru: The Namma Metro ridership is expected to reach an all-time high of nearly 10 lakh following the Yellow Line’s opening on Monday.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) declined to share Monday’s overall ridership, saying passenger counts had to be recorded separately for each line. However, a well-placed source said at least 57,200 people travelled on the Yellow Line between 6.30 am and 9 pm.

Heavy crowds were reported across the metro network, with the Majestic and RV Road interchange stations teeming with passengers. Trains were so overcrowded during peak hours that security guards had to push passengers in so the doors would close.

At Majestic, while the new passageway connecting platform 2 of the Purple Line and platforms 3 and 4 of the Green Line made things easier, passengers accessing platform number 1 (towards Whitefield) faced problems as crowds surged. Things were relatively easier at the RV Road interchange.

Passengers arriving from Bommasandra and travelling towards Majestic breezed through by walking across the platform. Security guards also helped them, guiding them to the correct platform to switch between the Yellow and Green lines.

However, those coming in the opposite direction (Majestic to RV Road/Bommasandra) struggled to find their way as they had to access the platform on the other side of the station.

Bangalore South MP L S Tejasvi Surya stressed the need for crowd control measures at RV Road in a letter to the BMRCL on August 8.

With the Yellow Line trains operating at a frequency of 25 minutes initially, the Purple and Green Line trains run every four to eight minutes during peak hours, he noted.

“This disparity might pose an issue of overcrowding at the interchange station of RV Road, especially during peak hours, due to walk-in crowds along with commuters from the Green Line,” he said.

To prevent accidents at RV Road due to overcrowding, he urged the BMRCL to install platform screen doors, barricades, accurate signage, and deploy adequate security personnel.