On Monday, the first day that people got a chance to travel by the metro to work instead of being stuck in traffic, there were long queues at major stations as thousands queued up for tickets.
Officials were keeping a close watch to understand if Sunday’s record of more than 1.10 lakh passengers was just a case of Bengalureans opting for a joyride. By evening, they heaved a sigh of relief. Major stations like Mysuru Road, Vijayanagar, Baiyappahalli, S.V. Road and Kempegowda saw crowds throughout the day while M.G. Road and Trinity stations were crowded in the morning and evening.
“There has been a good response to the services so far. We had recorded 40,457 commuters till 2 p.m. We expect this to increase as the same people will take the metro to return home from office. Also, the IPL match will draw more crowds in the evening,” said U.A. Vasanth Rao, spokesperson, BMRCL.
While there were a few issues for most first-time commuters, they were hopeful that they would be sorted out in the near future. “I spent more than 10 minutes in the queue to get a token. I will be buying their smart card soon,” said Sudha M.R., who works in Embassy Golf Links on Inner Ring Road.
The IPL match in the evening also ensured a steady steam of passengers through late afternoon and early evening. Crowds could be seen exiting Cubbon Park station near Chinnaswamy stadium as early as 5.30 p.m. “We just walked to the S.V. Road station and exited at Cubbon Park. Earlier, we would get down at M.G. Road station and walk to the stadium,” said Avantika Singh, who had travelled with her friends to watch the match.
