Bangladesh
Metrorail Overcrowding in metro rail, fewer passengers in buses
Own correspondent, Dhaka, 10 November 2023: Metrorail has become the favorite vehicle of office goers. Every day many people are going to office by metro. Metrorail departs from three Uttara stations every 10 minutes, but each one is loaded with passengers. Passengers are coming to Pallavi station from these stations. Few passengers get off at Pallavi but many times more than that get off. Most of the passengers' destinations are Motijheel, Secretariat, Farmgate and Agargaon. However, passengers who do not have Metropass have to suffer a bit. They have to stand in line for a long time to get tickets.
Meanwhile, although the metro rail is crowded, there is a shortage of passengers in the buses plying on this route. When the metro rail coaches above are full of passengers, the buses on the road below have to wait for the passengers. Such a picture was seen while visiting the metro station number 11 in Pallavi on Thursday morning.
Talked with the assistants of the bus driver. They say that there is a rush of commuters going to office from 7 am to 10 am. However, since the introduction of Metrorail, the number of passengers in buses is comparatively less. Short-haul passengers are not boarding. Buses have to wait at stand for long time waiting for passengers. Buses going from Mirpur to Motijheel are suffering from shortage of passengers. However, the buses going from Mirpur to Savar, Gazipur, Newmarket, Badda were not seen to wait for long for the passengers.
At 9:30 in the morning, three buses of Motijheel-bound Shikar Paribahan, one bus of Bihang Paribahan and one bus of Alternative Transport were seen waiting for passengers. Sohan, assistant driver of Shikar Paribahan, said, "There are less passengers. There are less arguments with passengers. Earlier local passengers used to board more. Now there are more direct passengers. Passengers have to wait. Passengers are also accepting it."
Sadarghat fruit trader Arshad Mia boarded the Bihang bus. He said, "You can't sit on the metro in the morning, it's so crowded. Again, there's a long line for tickets. That's why I feel comfortable on the bus. Now the road is almost empty."
