Metro sees 20pc rise in passengers amid blockade

Metro rail service saw a 20 percent rise in daily passengers' number in last few days as transportation services in Dhaka got disrupted due to a blockade enforced by protesting students.

The pressure on the popular transport mode was so severe that the metro rail authority has to shut down main gates of some major stations for a time being to "ration passengers".

Students, who have been demonstrating from July 1 to reform quotas in government jobs, have been enforcing the blockade from Sunday, halting transport movement for a long time.

As a result, the number of passengers on metro saw a sharp rise, said officials.

"Usually, we transport around three lakh passengers daily but the number rose to 3.5 lakh to 3.6 lakh daily in the last few days," MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd, told The Daily Star last night.

He said several major stations -- Motijheel, Secretariat, Karwan Bazar and Uttara North --saw the highest number of passengers.

Replying to a question, he said the first floor (concourse level) has a certain capacity to accommodate passengers but when the floor became overcrowded, they have to shut those stations temporarily for rationing passengers.

After some time, when a large number of passengers goes to the platform floor, they open the gates for more people to avail the service, he said.