entry gates

Metro station

Bangalore

BMRCL

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Many stations don’t have allopen. And this is in violation of the DPRIf you’re trying to enter the MG Road Metro Station, don’t be surprised to see that the main gate is shut and the shutters are down. Commuters entering the MG Roadfrom the Kumble Circle side will have to walk all the way down MG Road, and enter the station from the gate that’s closer to Kamaraj Road. Not just this. During peak hours, expect a queue that meanders halfway down the road and you’re moving up in line at snail’s pace.This is not a phenomenon peculiar to the MG Road Metro station only. Many Metro stations, which have about three to four entry gates, facilitating access from different sides, have shut most of them since two to three years, leaving just two gates for entry and exit.This decision by theMetro Rail Corporation Limited () has left commuters from entering gates which are not the most convenient for them. This is common with stations on both the Green and the Purple line.In stations like MG Road, Cubbon Park, Srirampura, Sir M Visvesvaraya, Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (City Railway Station) and Dasarahalli, not all the available gates are open to commuters. According to the Detailed Project Report (DPR), every Metro station should have dedicated entry gates which should be functional but commuters say it is not so.Pradeep K, a regular commuter says, “If you look at the Cubbon Park station entry gates, the gate near the HAL and Income Tax building is closed. A lot of commuters have to cross a six-lane road to come to the Cubbon Park station entrance. Not just that, now that the traffic around the Central Business District (CBD) area is increasing due to BMRCL work on Kamaraj road, keeping all gates open will help commuters.” Another commuter adds, “During peak hours, entering a Metro station takes a long time since just one or two gates are open and there is frisking and security checks. Keeping gates at various entry points open will help reduce the queues outside Metro stations, especially during peak hours. If all the entry gates are not open, then it means the BMRCL is not following DPR.”In some cases, like at the City Railway station, there is no clear path to access one of the gates to the Metro station and hence not many people use it. A commuter who lives near the City Railway Metro station said, “The B gate is closed because people don’t use it. That’s because there is no way to access this gate.”When BM took a test drive on both the Metro lines in the city, we observed that commuters are really not aware of these multiple gates and they head towards the ones which are located on the main road. When we spoke to a Metro station personnel at the City railway station, he said, “The B gate is closed and the C gate towards Magadi main is open. So people prefer the C gate instead. Also, the B gate is not used by commuters so it does not make sense to keep it open.”He went on to add, “It becomes an expensive affair to keep the gates open. We have three security guards and five policemen at every gate and if some gates are not used, they it’s a waste to have them stationed there.” When asked why some gates at Metro stations were kept shut, Ajay Seth, Managing Director of BMRCL said it was because of low ridership and therefore low footfalls at these gates. He also said that if commuters at certain stations were facing issues, he would look into the matter.