Delhiites beat "Even" Monday blues, DMRC says rush manageable

New Delhi, Jan 4: With all offices and Delhi's giant services sector returning to work on year's first Monday, the AAP Government's odd-even scheme faced its real test today with large number of Delhiites travelling by metro and buses.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) claimed that it was successful in handling the expected huge rush on all its lines which pushed up the ridership to 22.8 lakh witnessing a jump of around 2 lakh passengers over last Monday.

Earlier in the day, a picture showing a jam packed Rajiv Chowk metro station trended on Twitter prompting DMRC Chief Mangu Singh to clarify that it is an old image.

"Delhi Metro was successful in handling the expected huge rush on all its lines, on the first working Monday of the year. All necessary measures were already planned in advance and were in place to manage any additional rush of passengers. All lines and stations were thoroughly monitored throughout the day," DMRC said in a statement.

According to Metro authorities, "today's ridership was 22,85,887 while the number of passengers who travelled on last Monday was 20.51 lakh".

Commuters also claimed that there was "substantial" but "manageable" rush. Indu Sharma, who boarded the Metro from Civil lines to Patel Chowk said, "I am glad that the frequency of trains has been increased to make it more bearable. It was crowded but manageable to travel".

Another commuter Rajat Sen said "I faced problems during the morning hours when I found the metro fully jam packed. Though in evening things were pretty normal and I was able to board metro with ease."

During the 15-day odd-even trial, DMRC has planned to run 3,192 total trips to handle the passenger rush.

The Taxi hailing apps also claimed that more Delhiites are opting for car-pooling and shared rides to reach their destinations, resulting in a rise in usage of their platforms in the last couple of days.

The odd-even vehicular restriction policy of the Delhi government came into effect on January 1 with thousands of volunteers taking to the streets to assist traffic police in enforcing the pilot plan that will stay in force in the national capital till January 15.

As per the scheme, cars bearing odd-numbered registration plates shall ply on city roads today while those with even number plates, if taken out, will attract a penalty of Rs 2,000 under relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.

PTI