Commuters travelling via metro in Bengaluru may soon not be allowed to wait for their train inside the stations, as the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has limited the number of people allowed in metro trains and stations at a time. Now, the number of people allowed to wait inside stations will be limited to the number of seats available in each metro train. The decision will be implemented with immediate effect, the BMRCL said in a press release dated Wednesday, January 12.
“It is brought to the notice of Namma Metro Commuters that, with immediate effect, entry of passengers into the stations will be restricted for allowing limited occupancy in trains to the extent of available seating capacity,” the release said. In addition to this, the press release also said that, “If passengers note that seating capacity in a train is full, they have to board the leaner coaches/following trains where adequate capacity is available.”
Apart from this, the BMRCL also said that the frequency of trains on Saturdays and Sundays will be reduced from 20 minutes to 30 minutes, due to the weekend curfew in place in Karnataka.
Karnataka has been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases in the past week. On Tuesday, January 11, the number of cases rose by 14,473 in 24 hours, out of which 10,800 were in Bengaluru. The state recorded a COVID-19 test positivity rate of 10.3% on Tuesday. Meanwhile, 1,356 persons have been discharged from the hospitals across the state. The active cases in the state stood at 73,260 and in Bengaluru, the number stood at 59,000.
Meanwhile, as many as 32 children below the age of 15 tested positive for the coronavirus in Vijayapura district. District Commissioner P Sunil Kumar stated that they included two children between 2 to 5 years of age, five children between 5 to 11 years, and 25 children between 11 and 15 years.