Hyderabad: Though the metro rush recalled the days of overcrowded city RTC buses, it caused severe inconvenience to the 3.5 lakh patrons during both peak-hour commutes on Monday. Unlike buses, the three-car metro cannot travel an inch without the automated doors closing.
Commuters were subject to extreme discomfort. They jostled, pushed and crowded each other in the jam. The ongoing RTC stir forced the school and college going crowd to take the metro, aggravating the congestion. Metro authorities were sanguine, focusing less on commuter comfort and more on the record footfall.
Nadella Bharat said commuting to Rasoolpura from Miyapur at 9 am was a nightmare. Every train and station was a sea of people. A few commuters tried clinging on the footboard but the automated door was uncooperative. “The train was so congested that we had a tough time,” he said. “I reached office filled with sweat.”
While office-goers and the elderly shared their discomfort, college-goers complained the crowding prevented them from socializing. Also, they could not “foot-board”.
"The metro was so jam-packed that I couldn’t update my Whatsapp status while travelling,” said poor K. Sharath Kumar. “My hand could not reach my trouser to take a call.” He suffered this torture till Dilsukhnagar from LB Nagar station. I felt suffocated,” said Noufel, going from Uppal to Secunderabad for college.
“Though AC is available in the metro, it hardly made a difference in the extreme congestion. On RTC buses, foot-boarding rescues us. Metro should increase number of cars.”
HMRL managing director Mr N.V.S. Reddy said the rush was noticed from morning. The train frequency was increased to every 3.5 minutes from 4.5 minutes during peak hours and seven minutes during non-peak hours. Additional trains were deployed.
In order to cater the needs of commuters, the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited has run four additional trains.
The managing director said that the footfall crossed four lakh which has been a new record.
He further said that HMRL ran 120 additional trips on Monday and the total trip count was 830 for the day.
