Lack of 'passenger etiquette' takes sheen off Metro

New Delhi, Mar 18: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit may see it as a 'perfect example' of Delhi's movement towards a "world class city" but "the familiar jostling for seats and standing space" and the flouting of safety and hygiene regulations by passengers seem to have marred Delhi Metro's efforts of being a "world class facility".

With passengers on Metro stations indulging in fisticuffs to alight and jostling with one another for standing space in the trains, spitting on the tracks and crossing the yellow line on the platform in contravention of the safety guidelines, the swanky Metro stations have, in the past year, come to remind one of the seedy and dirty platforms at the New Delhi Railway Station.

All of which threatens to ruin DMRC's plans to showcase Delhi Metro as a world class facility.

In fact, ever since its launch in Delhi four years ago, DMRC has been touting Metro as a fast, efficient and convenient mode of transport, especially for the huge upwardly mobile section of people in the city like executives, bankers, school and college students.

Among its potential customers are thousands of people working in corporate companies and multinationals for whom the Metro is being presented as an alternative to the air-conditioned buses in which these persons presently commute.

For instance, DMRC has been mooting the idea of the corporates, especially those in Noida and Gurgaon, making Metro stations the collection points for picking and dropping their staff from homes and offices.

DMRC sources said under the scheme mooted by the Metro, air-conditioned cabs would take the executives from the station to the office.

No wonder, the frequent overcrowding of stations, congestion of trains and the consequent jostling for standing space in trains has become a serious problem to reckon with for the DMRC which has, in recent months taken several steps to present Metro as a world class system.

In fact, in a recent communication, Managing Director of the DMRC E Sreedharan bemoaned lack of 'passenger etiquette' at the Metro stations.

''There is one area in which we are far behind the Metro systems of other cities and that is lack of passenger etiquette at the stations,''Mr Sreedharan said.

''Very often, we witness incidents of pushing and shoving as commuters try to enter and exit the trains at the same time. This causes great inconvenience to all concerned, especially the elderly and the infirm, and creates a very poor image about the people of the city,''the DMRC MD said.

Mr Sreedharan said that though, from its very inception, the DMRC had strived to showcase Metro as a world class facility, the massive congestion and overcrowding had come as a dampener to its efforts. ''On our part, we are trying our best to regulate passenger movement at stations by making repeated announcements. We have started indicating through lines drawn on the platforms how to board and de-board trains as an experimental measure. But obviously, this is not enough,''Mr Sreedharan said.

Stressing on the need for etiquette, he said,''I would like to appeal to the citizens of Delhi to allow passengers to first alight from trains before boarding. I assure you that the trains will not leave before all those on the platforms are aboard or the trains become full.

Once inside the trains, please offer your seats to more deserving persons such as the elderly or handicapped persons or pregnant women. Being a vestibuled train, you can move to less crowded areas, to avoid congestion.'' In recent months, DMRC has embarked on many steps to make Delhi Metro as a world class facility like introduction of escalators at stations and launching swanky music and coffee outlets.

In the coming days, Metro has plans to start new feeder buses on 36 routes to connect with 27 metro stations across the city.

This information was given in Lok Sabha on Friday by Union Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken.

Mr Maken said CNG-operated mini buses would soon be introduced as feeder services near metro stations.

The proposal is likely to be finalised within six months.

Efforts to run Delhi Metro as a world class system could, however, come to nought if the frequent overcrowding, that has become a usual feature at many Metro stations in West Delhi, Kashmere gate and Rajiv Chowk during peak hours, persists.

And, with recent efforts by the DMRC to rein in massive overcrowding at Metro stations failing to bear any fruit, it seems an uphill task indeed.

For example, a new crowd management system introduced at the busy Rajiv Chowk station by DMRC, based on advice of experts and systems in place in Singapore and Tokyo metros, was not successful in controlling crowds.

DMRC, which currently operates three lines in Delhi - Shahdara-Rithala, Central Secretariat-Vishvidyalaya and Indraprastha-Dwarka - has a rideship of 5 lakh daily. However, with the operationalisation of sections connecting Noida, Gurgaon, South Delhi and the International Airport, DMRC is looking to increase its daily rideship to above 20 lakh.

UNI