DMRC FeedBack Part - II

This feedback marked "DMRC FeedBack Part - II" may be read in continuation of the earlier piece written written by me and marked as "FeedBack to Metro". It is not that this piece requires prior knowledge of the earlier one. This is an independent piece and covers additional areas.

In Mumbai we have three systems of ‘local’ trains – the Western Railway, Central Railway (Other than Harbor Line), and Harbor Line.  One may argue that the Central Railway controls and runs second and third system Line and therefore they should be in the same category. My request and advice to such readers is – ‘Please travel on the two systems and you will know how different they are’. When one travels in these three systems one realizes how different these are from one another – not just in the routes but in upkeep, maintenance and cleanliness systems (levels of tolerances are different) besides the socio-economic-political variables of the population they cover are also markedly different.

The Area under the DMRC primarily covers Delhi but it has a part of the line and its terminals at HUDA City Center [Delhi University-Gurgaon Line], Escorts Mujeswar [Kashmere Gate- Faridabad Line] in Haryana and NOIDA & Vaishali [Dwarka-Vaishali Line] in UP. I had always thought that DMRC being a modern organization will not have difference in the levels of service, maintenance and cleanliness when the different lines are compared with each other. Unfortunately the differences are there and are quite visible and easy to notice. I hope DMRC will make a conscious effort to even these out for good. I am highlighting a few in the following paragraphs:

• Cleanliness: I traveled on the Dwarka –Mandi House stretch and found that at certain stations the Lifts and walk-ways were quite dirty even at 8:50 in the morning. One could make out that the dirt and papers lying we relying form previous day and had not been thrown in the morning. The cleaning staff was not available. The Karol Baug station is not very clean when compared to the level of cleanliness maintained say at Kailash Colony. This side of the town is better maintained and just yesterday at Kailash Colony I found a boy cleaning the floor at about 2 pm.

The Stations at Gurgaon are quite a different story. As you come down the steps of the lift you are welcomed by a strong stench. I do not know who build toilets there and then decided not to keep them clean. One also finds a number of ‘pan’ stains. Since the area is covered under CCTV it should be possible to catch people and fine them. Do what you want and what you can but please do not keep the place so filthy. It spoils your name.

• Recharging the Metro Card: I have found a number of recharging machines at Kendriya Sachivalaya, Mandi House, Moolchand, Nehru Place. Karol Baug has only two of these; Dwarka had only one (the day I was there) and that too was not working. I had to be in queue for over 40 minutes to get my card charged. It is also strange that while using the machine you could charge it to Rs. 100, the person at the counter recharging the card demands a minimum re-charge of Rs. 200. At one time due to shortage of change I found a person opting for a new card at Rs. 150 rather than re-charging the card for Rs. 200. He had Rs. 150 and one note of Rs. 2000.

• It should certainly be possible to see the usage pattern of these recharging machines and/or the queue length outside at the stations to re-locate them so as to lessen the problems of the traveling public.

• Maintenance of Lifts etc: By and large the lifts are well maintained and well kept. I have already brought out the difference in the levels on the different stations and that needs to be attended to. Yesterday, by mistake, I had got off at Mevla Maharajpur. I found that the lights in the Lift Number 1 were not working. A few of the gentlemen switched on the torches in his mobile and one of them mentioned that the light had not been repaired for over a week despite the fact that he had regularly complained about it. It is also noted that the electrical panels are not locked and they are left open despite having ‘Danger’ sign on it.

• It is noted that at quite a few stations the Lift and/or the Escalators are switched off during the day, supposedly, to save electricity. These should be put on ‘auto’ mode and depending on crowd they may be switched ‘on’ or ‘off’ – larger crowd – both may be ‘on’ and smaller crowd only one may be ‘off’.

• The Side support at the staircases are not maintained. The one in picture has been like this for over a month and it is not possible to hold the side support while using the staircase. 

• Late running of Trains: On 23^rd May 2017 I was traveling from Badhkal Mor station in Faridabad to Mandi House. The trains were exceptionally crowded and running late. I could not get a place to sit or to stand comfortably so Got off at Badarpur Station. The train had taken inordinately long time to reach Badarpur. Later on to reach Mandi House I got into a train starting from Badarpur. Got a place to sit but the train was very slow. I wonder what was wrong with their systems. That day despite reaching Badhkhal Mor before 9:20 I could reach Mandi House only at about 10:50 or so. Normal journey time is about 40-45 minutes.

• Talking to fellow passengers, particularly the students, I found that they are not able to predict the travel time as it varies and the variation being 15-20 minutes in a journey of 45-50 minutes. Mumbai Suburban system despite its numerous faults runs that you can plan your day’s events and not be disappointed. 

• Announcements in the Trains and Sinages: On 20 May I was travelling form Badhkhan Mor to Jasola Apllo. The trains were slow and would waid at the outer signals for a long time. This happened at Badarpur. Before the train was to stop at Sarita Vihar the announcement was clear the next station was Sarita Vihar. Unfortunately the train stopped just before entering the station for quite some time. When the train started it was announced that the next station was Jasola Apollo. I got off and within minutes I realized that the announcement was wrong and the station was Sarita Vihar and not Jasola Apollo. I found I was not the only one and others too had heard the announcement that the station was Jasola Apollo and had got off. All of us walked back to the platform waiting for the next train. I do not know why the announcement system had got confused and had announced incorrectly.

• Sinages at Stations: DMRC has been extending its lines. Recently the line from Faridabad to ITO got extended to Kashmere Gate. On the other side this line had got extended beyond Badarpur to Escorts Mujesar. However, the electronic sinages have not been updated. It one of the stations beyond the last end station is Escorts Mujesar but the Indicators show it as ‘Badarpur/Escorts Mujesar’. This is at variance with the fixed printed sinage as may be see in the picture. At some of the other stations the maps etc need to be updated.
  

• At Mandi House station it shows that ‘Platform 3’ is for going to ITO as well as for going to ‘Escort Mujesar’. It should read Platform 3 and Platform 4. I am not listing all such instances and DMRC is well advised to do a periodic review of these to ensure that they remain current useful to public.
  

• One strange case of ‘inverse advertisement has also been noted as shown below:
  

• Queues and Exit Points: It is strange that at the main stations within the New Delhi passengers can exit from the either side of the station. However, in the stations beyond Badarpur like Mevla Maharajpur, Sector 28, Neelam Chowk, Vaishali etc the passengers are expected to enter only from one side and get out from the other side. For example, at Neelam Chowk Station one is supposed to enter from the South end only and get out from the North End exit point. Say, a passenger is entering the station form the North Side then she has to go all the way to the south side and enter the station. Quite often this leads to long queues as in the picture below. 
  

• It is not clear why the facility available at the other city stations of entering exiting from either end is not made available here.