Bengaluru: The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) Sunday expressed regret over the temporary suspension of train stoppages at two stations in central Bengaluru during the ‘Freedom Hubba’ celebrations Saturday, saying the measures were taken in the interest of passenger safety.“BMRCL sincerely regrets the inconvenience experienced by passengers during this period. We understand that any unexpected change in metro operations can cause considerable difficulty to commuters and disrupt their planned journeys,” the metro operator said.BMRCL had announced in advance that the Dr BR Ambedkar (Vidhana Soudha) Metro station would remain closed for passenger entry and exit from 10am Saturday as part of crowd-management arrangements for the event.However, by evening, exceptionally heavy pedestrian movement in and around Vidhana Soudha, coupled with a significant rise in passenger footfall at Cubbon Park and Sir M Visvesvaraya Metro Stations, led to rapid crowd build-up at the stations and their approaches.“Considering the prevailing crowd situation and in the interest of public safety, train stoppages at Cubbon Park and Sir M Visvesvaraya Metro stations were temporarily implemented between 7.21pm and 9.57pm, in consultation with the competent authorities responsible for traffic and crowd management at the event,” BMRCL said.The temporary measure affected thousands of commuters who had relied on the Metro to reach or leave the Vidhana Soudha area.BMRCL said train capacity and crowd conditions outside stations have to be managed together during large public gatherings. “When the surrounding roads and station approaches became heavily congested, the temporary non-stoppage at these two stations was necessary to regulate further inflow into the area and facilitate safe dispersal of the crowd already present,” it said.As the situation improved, Cubbon Park and Sir M Visvesvaraya Metro Stations resumed normal operations at 9:57pm. The Dr BR Ambedkar (Vidhana Soudha) station reopened for passenger operations after 10.05pm.BMRCL said the experience from Saturday’s event would be factored into planning for future large gatherings in coordination with the concerned authorities.It said particular attention would be given to advance assessment of passenger flows, crowd management, deployment of additional personnel and timely communication of operational changes to commuters.
