15,800 passengers enter Bengaluru’s Nagasandra metro station in 5 hours, crowd spills to 1 km-long line on IKEA road
Bengaluru metro commuters questioned why the Nagasandra-Madavara line was not inaugurated yet even after getting all the approvals.
Bengaluru’s Nagasandra metro station, which is on the Green Line, saw huge crowds on Monday morning after a long festive weekend. The long lines outside the metro station, which is located near IKEA furniture store saw high footfalls on this stretch, and commuters demanded the opening of the Nagasandra-Madavara line, which could decrease the rush.
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The pictures of the 1 km long line outside this metro station in North Bengaluru went viral on social media. A user named Rajath took to X and wrote, “Absolute chaos at Nagasandra metro! The queue extends till the Kennametal entrance (1km). had the green line extension till Madavara has been inaugurated it could easily have been avoided! Politicians apathy, citizens suffer.”
He questioned why the Nagasandra-Madavara line was not inaugurated yet even after getting all the approvals. “More than a month since inspection and approval, and still, do common citizens have to wait?? No wonder we have become a laughing stock! Makes me sad as Bangalorean,” Rajath added.
Another user, Ayushman Raina, wrote, “There is a 500-m queue to enter Nagasandra Metro Station. If the # greenline had been extended, this would have been distributed to another 3 stations, thus reducing the load.”
A video that was recorded from an auto rickshaw went viral and showcased the hurdles faced by metro commuters in Bengaluru. In an X post, a user called Bipin Domy Thomas wrote, “Here’s a video, over a minute long, recorded from an auto rickshaw, showing a long queue of people waiting to enter the Nagasandra metro station on a Monday morning. Bengaluru traffic is no joke.”
In a response to the chaos, Namma Metro said, “Today, between 6 am to 11 am, 15800 passengers entered Nagasandra metro station after festivities against normal 11000 passengers. Most of the passengers with baggages had to be frisked, for ensuring safety. We adopted manual frisking too and cleared the rush with least delay.”
In early October, the 3.7km stretch on the Green Line got approval from the Commissioner for Metro Railway Safety (CMRS) and was expected to be inaugurated in the second or third week of October. However, there is no tentative date on when the crucial stretch will be opened to the public as it still awaits the formal inaguration.
The elevated extension includes three new stations: Manjunathnagar, Chikkabidarakallu, and Madavara. Once this section becomes operational, it is expected to enhance connectivity for commuters traveling to key destinations of North Bengaluru.