Delhi Metro: Snag on first weekday but jump in ridership

Though there was not much rush, people were seen standing in long queues at some places such as Rohini West, Mayur Vihar Phase-I on Monday morning, waiting for their turn to enter the station.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Monday — the first weekday after the entire network was made operational after nearly six months -- reported a 63.48% jump in its ridership compared to last week, but the day began with a technical snag on the Yellow line, affecting services for more than two hours.

On Monday, 249,884 people took a ride on the Metro network compared to 152, 845 people last Saturday. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

On Monday, 249,884 people took a ride on the Metro network compared to 152, 845 people last Saturday. Though there was not much rush, people were seen standing in long queues at some places such as Rohini West, Mayur Vihar Phase-I on Monday morning, waiting for their turn to enter the station.

At Mayur Vihar, the queue extended till the main road between 8 am and 9 am. “There was no rush, but the queue was till the main road as people were asked to maintain distance,” said a Metro police official at the station.

Suman Kumar (30), who works at a government office in Connaught Place, said she has been driving to work for the past three months from Uttam Nagar. “It is a big relief that the metro services resumed. Taking a bus was a lot of hassle. There are no fixed timings and they often don’t stop if they are full. I had no option but to drive. Though it is taking longer than usual, it is very comfortable to travel in the Metro. The train is nearly empty,” Kumar said.

To manage the rush, DMRC had to run eight trains from in-between stations on the Blue line (Dwarka sector 21 to Noida Electronic City), which was the busiest corridor on the entire network on Monday.

DMRC officials said nearly 76,000 people travelled on the Blue line on Monday.

“With a large number of people boarding the train from Dwarka and subsequent stations, it was decided to run trains from Uttam Nagar East to manage the crowd. Seven trains started from Uttam Nagar East towards Noida/ Vaishali. One train started from Anand Vihar instead of Vaishali. All this was done to manage the morning peak hour rush,” said a DMRC official.

Though the ridership has increased, stations and trains were relatively empty on Monday. There was not much rush at Rajiv Chowk, Hauz Khas, Kashmere Gate, which are important inter-charge stations.

But the day started with a technical snag on the (Samayapur Badli-HUDA City Centre) Yellow line. One track of the corridor between Rajiv Chowk and New Delhi had to be closed for train movement due to urgent track repair. This affected movement between Rajiv Chowk (one of the busiest inter-charge stations) and Vishwavidyalaya for nearly two-and-a-half-hours, causing inconvenience to people.

DMRC tweeted, “Delay in services between Rajiv Chowk and Vishwavidyalaya due to track repair work between Rajiv Chowk and New Delhi stations.”

According to a DMRC official, train service between Samayapur Badli and Vishwavidyalaya metro stations ran normally. Normal services resumed after nearly two hours.

Gearing up for more crowds, especially during peak hours, DMRC has started putting markings inside trains for people to stand while maintaining social distancing. According to DMRC officials, these markings on the train floors have been done in 800 coaches.

Nitesh Kapoor, who works with a private firm in Lajpat Nagar, said, “It is good they have put these markings. It will help people maintain distance. This way, more people can travel.”

Nearly 2,000 people have been deployed to ensure social distancing norms are followed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease. The DMRC penalised 182 people for not following norms til now.