BENGALURU: In the past 20 days, Namma Metro has seen its daily average ridership surge to over four lakh quite a few times. While this might be good news for Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL), passengers who were already complaining of Metro trains running at full capacity, are now feeling the pinch for space.
With rush-hour operations on both lines seeing a surge these past few months, the demand for additional coaches and extra trains have been steadily rising and seem to have hit a feverish pitch in the new year.
Commuters are now saying that finding space to even stand onboard Metro trains during peak hours is almost impossible and are demanding quick solutions to continue using Namma Metro.
“It is a great thing to see so many people making the switch to public transport but they need to find a solution to the rush immediately. Most mornings, getting pushed around in the coaches has become normal for us and the trains look similar to the Mumbai locals during rush hours,” said Abhay Rao, a daily commuter from Deepanjalinagar to MG Road.
Faced with several such complaints, BMRCL has already tried out methods such as forming queues to optimally fill trains. While this may have had some effect when the ridership was sufficiently low, these methods are no longer useful and will definitely not get you a seat, passengers say.
“I take the Metro during the afternoon three times a week. Even around 3pm, the coaches are full. Most of the crowd seems headed to a few stations such as Kempegowda finding a seat for yourself and till there is impossible,” complained Rujuta Shah, who commutes daily between Central College and Jayanagar.
Short loop services, which were introduced by BMRCL to deal with this, have not quelled the rush.
In the past one week, the daily average ridership has increased to around 3.75 lakh with the four lakh figure breached last Friday, leaving passengers praying for additional coaches which BMRCL has promised to install soon.