The disruption of Bengaluru’s Namma Metro purple line during the evening rush hours on Tuesday left hundreds of commuters stranded, with videos showing people boarding trucks and lorries to return home amid a shortage of alternative transport options.
The incident drew sharp criticism from BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, who blamed frequent chaos in the metro and urban mismanagement.
Sharing a video of stranded passengers traveling on trucks, Suriya wrote on X, “First world tech talent. Third world rule. This is the story of Bengaluru.”
The South Bengaluru MP said that metro disruptions had become “alarmingly frequent” and said that each disruption led to chaos in the city’s transport network.
“Yesterday, hardworking professionals in India’s Silicon Valley had to ride trucks just to get home after work. Tomorrow they will wake up, go back to their offices, pay their taxes, and endure the same broken system again,” he said.
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Metro services on the Purple Line were affected on Tuesday evening after a technical problem arose on a train at Cubbon Park MRT station during peak commute hours.
The disturbance led to severe congestion at several stations, including Coupon Park and MG Road, as office-goers returned home. With metro services affected, many passengers were forced to look for alternative means of transportation, including cars and app-based taxis, while others resorted to taking passing vehicles.
The Namma Metro Purple Line connects Whitefield (Kadugodi) in east Bengaluru with Challaghatta in the southwest, and is one of the busiest metro corridors in the city.
Responding to the disruption, Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on Wednesday said the technical issue at Cubbon Park Metro station has been successfully rectified and normal services have been resumed on the Purple Line.
The incident also sparked a reaction from Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, who said the disruption exposed flaws in the city’s urban mobility planning.
Also read: Metro services resume on Purple Line after BMRCL rectifies technical snags
“Yesterday’s disruption of Bengaluru Metro’s purple line exposed a serious gap in preparedness for urban mobility. When one mode of transport fails, other public transport services must seamlessly absorb the demand. Governance is not judged on routine days, but by its responsiveness in times of crisis,” Mohan said in a post on X.
