To keep protesters at bay,4 Metro stations shut down for 5 hours

Though the shut-down did not affect a large number of commuters,those working in government offices in the area had a tough time,having to walk down to the Central Secretariat station to catch a train.

The four stations – Udyog Bhawan,Race Course,Jorbagh and Khan Market – are relatively low footfall stations,but with no other mode of transport connecting the areas and the police barricading all roads at these locations,commuters had to walk down to the nearest stations. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium station,which is closest to Khan Market,had to take over additional load,while Central Secretariat catered to the passenger load from the three other affected stations.

Aarti Dubey,who works in the Urban Development ministry and is a regular Metro commuter,had to walk to the Central Secretariat station. “I usually take the Udyog Bhawan station,which is closer to my office,but today since the station was closed and all the roads in the area were barricaded I had to walk all the way to Central Secretariat. The protests have been a hassle now as it is beginning to affect our daily lives.”

Jatin Trivedi and his family,were headed for Khan Market but had to get off at the JLN Stadium station where they had to wait a long while to get an auto. “Thankfully,announcements were being made that the train would not stop at Khan Market,so we got down at the JLN Stadium station itself. But getting an auto was a huge problem as the area was barricaded and we had to walk a little distance to get an auto,” Trivedi said.

Trains crossing the affected stations,three at a stretch on the Jahangirpuri to HUDA City Center and one on the Badarpur corridor,ran through them without stopping. Though the pre-fed announcements confused commuters by announcing the arrival of even the closed stations,manual announcements were being made to inform passengers on board that the train would not stop at the affected stations “due to security reasons.”