BENGALURU: With BMRCL announcing late on Monday that Green Line operations would be shut from Peenya Industry Station to Nagasandra on Tuesday to facilitate signalling tests for an upcoming line, it was a nightmare for hundreds of commuters during peak morning and evening hours.
With trains originating from Peenya Industry at 5 am, commuters who usually boarded at Nagasandra, Jalahahalli and Dasarahalli landed here, and the queue to enter the station stretched along Tumakuru Main Road.
BMRCL’s poor preparedness added to their agony. Commuters who came on vehicles opted to ride till the next station, Peenya. Instead of opening both entries to manage the crowd, BMRCL continued with its regular single entry.
Rajath, assistant manager at a private firm, boards a train at Nagasandra and commutes till Trinity Circle. “The minute I reached Peenya Industry around 8am, I knew I was in trouble. I found a parking slot with much difficulty. With only one person scanning all baggage, I knew it would take very long. I took my vehicle and decided to go to Peenya and board a train. Luckily, I found space to park,” he told TNIE.
The commuter added that many were not aware of the partial closure of train operations. “BMRCL should have made an announcement on board trains and platforms about it atleast yesterday. A notice should have been pasted outside stations too announcing it. This is very poor communication from their part,” he said. Rajath said the nightmare continued in the evening when he returned to take his vehicle. “There was a long queue for parking, and took me 20 minutes to take it out of the parking lot,” he said.
Student Madhusudhan, a resident of Madanayakanahalli, took a bus to reach Peenya Industry in the morning. “There was a long queue and my baggage scan took ten minutes, the tapping of the card to enter the station also took some minutes. BMRCL should have opened both the entry gates for better crowd management,” he said.
BMRCL officials conceded that they were taken aback by the crowd. “Peenya Industry is a small station and is among those with the lowest footfall. Today, we had ten times the usual crowd,” he said.