NEW DELHI—In New Delhi, one of the most populous cities in the world, standing in lineups is almost unheard of — not at movie theatres, cash registers, bus stands. The general rule is to push and shove — or grope — to get ahead, but never to line up.

Except at metro stations.

Metro is the Indian capital’s mass rapid transit system, a network of six subway lines covering a total length of about 190 kilometres, with 142 stations. Hundreds and thousands of commuters use it every day.

(On Aug. 19, about 2.6 million took the metro, the highest number ever.)

But this is the really staggering part: those vast numbers who take the metro every day stand in lineups and go through airport-style security checks just to get into a station — any station.

The stations are considered prime terrorist targets and have always had high security.

Before commuters go through the turnstile, there are metal detectors and pat-downs by paramilitary officers, as bags go through an x-ray machine. There’s a separate line for men and women.

It can take up to 30 minutes just to enter a station on weekdays, especially in Old Delhi; add another 20 minutes during the office rush hour.

Even on a weekend, it usually takes about 15 minutes to get inside.

All that for a train ride. But it’s cheap, fast and, for most part, reliable.

“I am happy to go through these checks (rather) than be driving on Delhi roads,” says Vidya Shakuri, who works at an HSBC branch in central Delhi and rides the metro every day from her south Delhi home.

It takes her about 25 minutes on the subway — or more than two hours in the traffic, if she drives. The fare is calculated based on where you get on and off, but it costs less than $1 to go from one end of the city to the other; mostly, it’s a few cents for a short ride.

Shakuri is waiting to get into the Barakhamba metro station in central Delhi. It’s about 4 p.m. on a Tuesday and the lineup is tolerable: there are a few dozen women ahead of her and the queue is moving briskly. So is the men’s line, which is much longer.

If it weren’t for the armed, grim-looking security officials at stations, no one would line up, Shakuri says.

“But they are there, and they don’t tolerate any nonsense . . . thank God, or metro would be just as chaotic as any other place in Delhi. This is the only place I know where people stand in lines, wait for their turn.”

The metro is also relatively safe for women. When it started a few years ago, there were no cars designated for women. But there were many complaints of sexual harassment and a couple of years ago — before the infamous case where a 23-year-old medical student was brutally raped and killed on a Delhi bus — the first two cars of every train were reserved for women.

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“All my friends take the metro,” says Shakuri, crediting the women-only cars and security guards for making it worthwhile to endure the airport-style lineups.

“Anytime.”

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