● 81,000 Commuters on Match Day, Second Highest in History
● Post-Match Metro Train Services Extended till 3 am
NAGPUR :- Maha Metro registered second highest ridership on Friday-Saturday, as hundreds and thousands of cricket lovers chose to commute by Metro train to watch the T20 Match between India & Australia. The cumulative ridership was 80,794, second highest in the history of Maha Metro, after a record 90,758 commuters used Metro trains on 15th August. The second record ridership, thus, comes little more than a month after Independence Day.
But that’s not all. Sensing the need for extending Metro services timings, Maha Metro extended its services till 3 am on Saturday, well beyond the 1 am it had announced prior to match. This was done to accommodate all those returning from the match. Maha Metro employees and officials went beyond the call of duty to ensure that the services are available to all the cricket lovers after the match was over.
Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) had made special arrangements and positioned buses at New Airport Metro Station to ferry cricket fans to the VCA Stadium at Jamtha. Maha Metro had announced that it will operate special services till 1 am on all routes after the T20 match is over. However, considering the flow of Nagpurians, who went to Jamtha to watch the match, a decision to extend the services till 3 am was taken.
The rush for the match was evident as cricket fans thronged Metro Stations and trains. Maha Metro had also made arrangements for vehicle parking at New Airport Metro Station. The metro stations were crowded with passengers and Maha Metro had made all the necessary arrangements in anticipation of this.
The rush was also experienced in the afternoon as the match time neared.
In fact, given the trend for some time now, Maha Metro ridership has been continuously on the rise and considering these factors and anticipating this commuter rush, Maha Metro had deployed additional staff at all levels to handle the increased commuters. “The late night Metro service helped me and my friends to commute to and fro easily,’’ said Harish Wagdekar, a commuter who had been to VCA Stadium to watch the match.
The service ensured minimum hassles for me and my group of friends, he added. Another cricket fan Vaishali Gupta, said that the service proved to be highly useful for female commuters as Metro services provide utmost safety while travelling. “We hope that Maha Metro continues to provide such services in future, whenever required,’’ she further said.
Maha Metro thanks Nagpurians and cricket fans who not only cheered Team India in the stadium, but also contributed in recording the second highest ridership.
