'Public holidays apply to govt bodies not to private companies': Chaos at Bengaluru metro station, commuters call it 'pathetic planning'

BENGALURU: Namma Metro passengers had a tough time at the Majestic interchange station Monday morning as the frequency of train services was reduced, anticipating lower footfall due to a general holiday on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti.

However, there was a surge in the number of commuters, leading to chaos from 8.30am to 10 am, with passengers complaining there was no space even to stand on the platforms.
Metro officials had anticipated that as there was a long weekend, there would be smaller crowds at stations, but it happened otherwise.
Passengers vented their frustration by sharing photos and videos of chaotic scenes at the interchange station on social media.
Shivaprakash, a passenger, said, "BMRCL has done pathetic planning; running Metro trains at a frequency of 10 minutes Monday morning is illogical. Public holidays apply to govt bodies; they don't apply to private companies."
Many called scheduling train services at a frequency of 10 minutes during peak hours a lack of planning. Naveen M, a commuter, said, "BMRCL cares more about hiking fares and not about improving services. There was hardly any space. The queues had spread from the platform to the concourse level."
Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan also criticised BMRCL for causing inconvenience to passengers. Calling it unacceptable, he said, "Reducing train frequencies to 10 minutes during peak hours, assuming everyone has a holiday, created absolute chaos. BMRCL must plan better in such cases."
There were also reports of crowds struggling to get into trains at a few stations on the Purple Line during the morning peak hours.
While issuing an official statement on the chaos at Majestic, BMRCL maintained, "Following the crowd build-up at Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station Majestic, on account of the general holiday, BMRCL operationalised four additional trains from Byappanahalli to Majestic to enhance public convenience. Additionally, one train was short-terminated at Majestic and returned to ITPB. With this, a total of seven fresh trips originated from Majestic, Garudacharpalya, and Whitefield."