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Madan Lal Khurana, chairman of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, on Thursday said stringent security measures would be taken to ensure safety of the trains that were thrown open to the public on December 25.
On the first day of its running, over one million people had thronged the six metro stations throughout the day, resulting in overloading of the ticketing system. Some irate passengers had damaged the state-of-art bogies and the electronic systems installed in it.
"We feel sad that the people should have damaged the property of the DMRC. It is my request to the people of Delhi to enjoy the train ride, but not to meddle with its functions or systems or damage it in any other manner. The train is meant for them and it would be nice if they help in preserving it," Khurana told rediff.com
"If we had been stringent on the first day the media would have criticised us. We are now taking effective security measures to ensure the safety of the DMRC. Our managing director, E Sreedharan, is going to inspect the damage done to the train and other systems. I will visit the place tomorrow," he said.
Refusing to blame the security guards or the DMRC personnel, Khurana said, "If you organise a party for 100 people and 1000 turn up then everything is thrown out of gear. We expected around 200,000 people to travel by the train on the first day, but one million turned up."
Later, addressing a press conference, Satish Kumar, director, and Madhuresh Kumar, general manager, said they had to withdraw one train on December 25.
"We had to withdraw one train before the scheduled time... we found that its systems, particularly the doors, needed attention. Our maintenance engineers had to work till midnight to repair the damage done to the doors and other systems of the train. Some of the commuters fiddled with the emergency switch through which they could speak to the driver of the train. These switches are meant for use in case of medical emergencies only," they said.
On the first day DMRC's revenue was Rs 700,000 and four trains made 50-odd trips.
"On Thursday... these trains made 68 trips till 3 pm and the behaviour of the passengers was much better," said Satish Kumar.
The DMRC has deployed two more companies of the Delhi police comprising 70 policemen.
He said, "Earlier we had 200 policemen and 200 of our staff attending to security duties. After the public response on the first day we had to swing in more people to ensure better coordination and proper guidance to the commuters. Delhi police personnel in plainclothes will be deployed in each bogey to keep an eye on troublemakers.
"Both at Shahdara and Tees Hazari the passengers will be asked to vacate the bogies after the journey. We will take them out from separate exit point and those wanting to get into the train will have to come through a separate entry point. Those wanting another ride will have to purchase fresh ticket."
He said that the DMRC would soon construct public toilets at all the railway stations.