Delhi:
Pragati Maidan Metro station recorded its highest-ever footfall of over 1.5 lakh on Sunday, thanks to the India International Trade Fair and special metro trains which were run to tackle the extra rush.
Footfall figures at the Pragati Maidan station touched 1.56 lakh yesterday, a DMRC spokesman said, adding that last year, the DMRC had witnessed 1.34 lakh footfalls at this station during the IITF on November 22.
The overall ridership of the Delhi Metro yesterday stood at 12.23 lakh which is also the highest-ever ridership during the trade fair. In 2009, 10.29 lakh passengers used Metro on November 24 during the trade fair.
The Delhi Metro has made elaborate arrangements to handle the extra passengers at Pragati Maidan station during the trade fair. Trains are being run with a peak hour frequency throughout the day -- from 08:00 AM to 09:00 PM -- which means the DMRC is running an additional 23 trains performing over 100 extra train trips every day.
Additionally 43 manual token counters with separate counters for specific token denominations and destinations have been opened at the Pragati Maidan Metro station for all working days.
During weekends and holidays, the number of these counters goes up to 52. To avoid overcrowding, all tokens are sold from the ground floor.
Extra customer facilitation agents and security guards have also been deployed at various stations like Central Secretariat, Rajiv Chowk, Kashmere Gate and Pragati Maidan for guiding and managing the crowd.