Sesharamu V.S. is a 68-year-old accountant. He huffs and puffs up the black granite stairs of Trinity Metro station. He catches his breath several times en route the steep staircase to the platform and wonders loudly why only the `down’ escalator is working and not the one that would have comfortably deposited him on the platform.
After reaching the summit, he plonks down on the first available space – a base around a pillar.
He says he travels thrice a week to the CBD from his residence on Mysore road. The swanky new purple line that connects Deepanjali Nagar to Byappanahalli cuts through the traffic-ridden city like a laser beam. ``Its definitely faster, safer and modern and complements the city which has grown from being a pensioner’s paradise to a tech paradise. It costs me just Rs 40 to travel both ways. But, there are many glitches that they should fix,’’ he says between catching his breath.
In a day well spent on the purple line, I found that Namma Metro is grappling with problems that can be easily fixed.
For starters, it needs to keep all escalators going – whether upto the concourse level or upto the platforms so that it doesn’t tire out anyone and takes care of the old, infirm and disabled who cannot climb up the stairs. At some stations even relatively fit-looking people prefer escalators, probably something that the mall culture seems to have ingrained into Bangaloreans.
By far the biggest problem I witnessed was a shortage of change. Its not just small change – the one, two or five rupee coins that are needed. I found a lady commuter forced to hang around the counter at Trinity at 2 pm as the person manning the ticket counter did not have change. Her fare being Rs 22, she gave him a Rs 100 note and a two rupee coin graciously. But, she was in for a shock as the counter person told her he did not have Rs 80 to give her back! This problem seemed common enough at all hours with those manning the counter asking every second passenger for a coin or two or Rs 10 notes else making them wait aside for a few minutes.
BMRCL General Manager (finance) and Chief Public Relations Officer U.A. Vasanth Rao admitted it could be a stray incident or two. ``We had a problem with one of the banks. We have changed the banker and we now supply Rs 5,000 worth of change every morning at every station,’’ he said. Now such an equitable distribution may be appreciated by Socialists or the mandarins who run the service, but certainly not the bourgeois.
With a little over one lakh people travelling on the metro everyday and the numbers likely to increase once the other corridors are connected, nobody can be denied a ride due to lack of change. A little more effort on the pattern of ticketing at stations will go a long way in solving the problem as not all metro users prefer a smart card. None of us would like to get short changed either.
The Metro also seems to lack a sense of proper direction. In some stations, instead of stating which landmark an exit will lead toward, the board stupidly reads `Towards South’ or `Towards North.’ Indians are not used to compass directions and they hear such terms only while watching American crime serials where the police announce the suspect ``heading south’’ or north as the case may be. ``We want to know a familiar landmark so that we take the right exit,’’ says Chandrika Rao, a housewife in her early 50’s.
Toilets are a big minus point. Inside stations where loos are available, in some, they remain inaccessible as the toilets are within ticketed areas. If you happen to hop off a train, surrender the coin while heading towards an exit and ask the normally helpful security where the toilet is, chances are you will be shown the direction that you just walked through. While the toilets are kept appreciably clean, one hopes that they remain so.
At the underground Cubbon Park station, as one steps down towards the platform, a board on the right gleefully points to Byappanahalli and the one on the left says this way to Mysore road. I know instinctively that it should be interchanged as trains using the left track move toward Byappanahalli and trains arriving on the right line go towards Mysore road. This confusion unnerves one as you escalate down, but enlightenment comes to the rescue as I find it’s a single platform with tracks on both sides. Ayyo, I slap my forehead. But still, the board should have pointed to the right direction I say!
As I had just missed the three-coach train here, I look around and see that it’s a single platform station plan. I imagine a worst-case scenario of 5,000 commuters bursting through at the same time after a cricket match ends at the adjoining KSCA stadium. How can such a crowd be managed in such a small space?
My thoughts are interrupted by loud clattering on the steps, courtesy noisy children coming along with their parents after an outing at Cubbon park. Obviously they were exhausted and one tired little fellow (children above three feet tall require a ticket) squatted down on the floor. His mother immediately admonished him ``Yelo, hodithini nodu (get up, I will hit you). Her words hit reality home. This platform had no benches to sit!
A nonplussed Rao said BMRCL was studying the movement of passengers before ordering for benches. ``We are not sure how many are needed or which direction they should be placed. Of course, we will slowly introduce benches,’’ he said. I discovered that there were many such ``standing only’’ stations in operation.
Till then, as the Kannada adage goes, I guess we have to ``Swalpa adjust maadi (please manage).’’
