Trade Fair rush leaves Blue Line Metro commuters jostling for space

The Blue Line is considered to be the busiest corridor of the Metro network. It is considered to be a snag-prone corridor as well.

Passengers travelling on this over 50-km-long section that connects Dwarka to Noida were left stranded for long durations, in cases stretching to an hour. As Wednesday was a holiday due to Guru Nanak Jayanti, the Trade Fair witnessed massive footfall. 

“Due to the excessive crowd at Pragati Maidan Metro station, trains halted at every station for more than 20 seconds, which is the usual duration. This is because doors were not shutting on time,” said a senior Metro official.

The trains could not move without the automated gates being shut properly. Impatient commuters vented their frustration on the authorities, wondering why they could not at least make announcements stating the reason for the delay.

“I boarded the Metro from Dwarka Sector 10 and was hoping to reach early but I got delayed at every station for around 10 minutes and it took me around three hours to reach Mandi House Metro station,” said Bharti Raturi, a daily commuter.

However, her trouble was not over as Metro officials also asked her to pay Rs 10 extra with her token before she could exit the station premises as her token had exceeded the limit of 170 minutes. 

“It was not my fault, then why should I pay a fine for their fault. I tried to convince the officials but they were not willing to listen,” said Raturi.

“A 20 minutes journey from Mayur Vihar to Mandi House took me around one hour. Trains were halting for around 7-10 minutes at each station till Pragati Maidan,” said Amit Sharma, another commuter. 

“I am a daily commuter of Delhi Metro and have been travelling via Metro for almost a decade. I feel quite comfortable in the Metro but today it was one of the worse experiences of my life,” he added.

Last Sunday, ridership at Pragati Maidan till 8 pm had touched 97,532, according to a Metro official. Over one lakh Trade Fair tickets were sold across the Metro stations on that day.