Namma Metro woes: Things you didn't do, BMRCL

Bengaluru: After joy rides of Saturday and Sunday, when nearly 2 lakh people used the East-West Metro line, the real test for the Metro came on Monday when regular commuters switched to spanking new transport system from BMTC buses, private vehicles, taxis and autorickshaws. “Majority of the commuters during the peak hours were Vidhana Soudha employees and government staffers as most of the tickets sold were for the Majestic and Dr B.R. Ambedkar stations,” said a BMRCL official.   

The major attractions are reduced time of travel, traffic-free commute, clean and well-maintained Metro and the fares that are less than what even cab aggregators charge. Mr Sadashiva, a second division assistant at the High Court, said, “It saves time and money. If people start using the smart cards issued by the BMRCL they can avail more discounts. But the BMRCL should reduce the cost of the cards, which is Rs 50.”

The Metro fares are said to be cheaper than that of BMTC AC buses. The minimum fare starts from Rs 10 and the maximum is Rs 40 for an 18.1 km travel.
BMRCL officials said that more than 90, 000 passengers used the Metro on Monday. The maximum number of passengers travelled from Byyappanhalli to M.G. Road and from Magadi Road to Vijayanagar.

Thousands of people use Metro to reach IPL
More than 10,000 people took the Metro trains between 6 pm and 7 pm to reach the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to watch the RCB-KKR IPL cricket match. The BMRCL officials said that the number will go up as thousands of people are expected to take Metro to go back home later during the night.

Tokens don’t get read by machines
Technical glitches worsened things as many e-tokens issued were not read by the reader at the entry gate, forcing commuters  to exchange them at the ticket counters.  Bhagya, 75, who was travelling with her family, was unhappy that her e-token for her first Metro ride was not accepted by the machine.

Poor seating arrangements at stations
Many commuters, especially senior citizens, were seen sitting on pillars at the Mysuru road station during peak hours while waiting for the Metro to Baiyappanahalli station. Many felt the BMRCL should have made seating arrangements at least for senior citizens and people with disabilities.

Confusion over station names
Names of stations that don’t reflect the localities they are in created confusion among passengers. The confusion was mainly over the Kempegowda station in Majestic.

Short train stops
Passengers rushed to enter  the trains which stopped for less than 30 seconds at each station. Not everyone could make it and some were left behind.

Long disorganised queues
With thousands of employees of both public and private organisations choosing to travel by Metro to  work,  many stations had long unweildy queues, making it difficult for passengers to get their e-tokens for travel. A 65-year-old retired government employee, Shankar, who was travelling from Dr Ambedkar station to Mysuru road complained that people were jumping the queues and the Metro staff were taking too long to issue tickets. “They need to increase the number of ticket counters. At noon I had to wait for 10 minutes and force people to follow the queue to get a ticket. Just imaging the plight of thousands of commuters during peak hours. The authorities should come out with some alternatives as soon as possible as this stretch is being used by many commuters who want to avoid the traffic congestion on the roads,” he said.

Penalty for loitering
Like at the Delhi Metro stations, those loitering at the  Metro stations of the newly opened city line for over an hour,  were  fined Rs 10 by BMRCL officials. The e-token of such commuters don't get read at the exit gate. Commuters Rajesh and his friend , who paid the fine of Rs 10 each,  claimed they were  looking around Dr. B R Ambedkar Metro station , which has photographs displayed on the making of South India’s first underground  station.

No paper ticket to claim reimbursement
Unlike the BMTC or the Indian railways, people who commute by Namma Metro do not receive paper tickets to claim reimbursement at work.

Shortage of seats on trains
With only 150 seats on the trains, many were left standing just like on BMTC buses.

Hole filled, and how!
After Deccan Chronicle reported that a truck sank into the road, just above the Metro underground station in Majestic, the authorities did a shoddy job of covering the hole on Monday morning. A large crowd had gathered at the spot since morning. The incident had set the alarm bells ringing at BMRCL and BBMP offices.