Passengers who were evacuated from stranded metro train on Saturday question BMRCL

Hundreds of passengers on a metro train that was stranded on the elevated corridor between Konanakunte Cross and Doddakallasandra Metro stations due to a man jumping to death at the latter station on Saturday evening, have questioned Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) on their evacuation strategies. 

Hundreds of passengers on a metro train that was stranded on the elevated corridor between Konanakunte Cross and Doddakallasandra Metro stations due to a man jumping to death at the latter station on Saturday evening, have questioned Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) on their evacuation strategies. 

Rashmi Sridhara, an IT consultant from Sydney who was on vacation in Bengaluru, was stranded in the unfortunate train with her two-year-old toddler. She told The Hindu that the passengers were kept in the dark for over half an hour over why the train had even stopped. “Clearly there was no communication to the passengers about the situation,” she said. 

The train had just left the Konanakunte Cross Metro Station and was at least over 500 metres away from the next Doddakallasandra Metro Station. However, Ms. Sridhara said that the metro staff inexplicably made the passengers trek on a narrow evacuation corridor at the edge of the elevated corridor to Doddakallasandra Metro Station, even as going back to Konanakunte Cross Metro Station would have been a much shorter trek. ”Walking on the narrow corridor at that height carrying a toddler was a harrowing experience. The BMRCL officials could have made the ordeal shorter, but did not,” she said. 

When asked, senior BMRCL officials said that typically, passengers are evacuated to the nearest metro station. However, they added that they were not aware why passengers were taken to the next metro station in this specific instance. “On-site officials would have made that choice based on the circumstances,” the officials said. 

Meanwhile, another passenger Khushi S., a resident of Kanakapura Road, said that the railings along the evacuation corridor were low and they were so wide apart that, in case someone lost balance, even an adult could fall through the gaps in the railing, potentially to their death. “Many, like me, have a fear of heights and we tend to feel giddy. If I had lost balance, I could have slipped through the gaps in the railings. It was such a challenge to walk on that corridor along the edge of the elevated corridor,” she said. 

However, a senior BMRCL official said that the railings are built as per technical specifications considering all types of situations. The official acknowledged that any emergency situation would be challenging for both metro officials and passengers. “However, we emphasize that all precautions and care are taken during evacuations. The railings are designed to be safe for passengers to hold and walk to the platform,” the official said.

“Unlike the Delhi Metro, passengers on Namma Metro cannot simply alight and walk on the tracks due to the power lines running alongside. Instead, they must use a 1m wide walkway along the boundary wall of the metro line, which is supported by railings. This is the established procedure,” explained another officer.