MORE than 183,000 residents took Metro Line 3 trains on New Year s Day, four times the daily average since it opened Tuesday.
The surge of passengers had forced the Metro operator to extend services to 10 p.m. during the three-day holiday.
The surge started at 9 a.m. on trains from Shuanglong in Longgang District to Caopu in Luohu District. Stations of Shuanglong, Longcheng Square, Ailian and Caopu were packed with holidaymakers, Metro Line 3 Investment Co. said Saturday.
There were long queues at vending machines because many passengers were not familiar with the process and took up to 2 minutes to buy a ticket.
The heavy passenger flow forced the operator to open temporary ticket offices. The company hopes commuters will in future use Shenzhen Tong cards to save time.
The surge of passengers almost paralyzed Caopu Bus Station near Buji Checkpoint where the number of passengers overwhelmed the few buses available. Many passengers were unable to catch a bus even after queuing for more than 30 minutes.
Shopping Bus Route 2 from Caopu to downtown Shenzhen was the busiest after Metro Line 3 opened. Many young migrant workers used this service because it went through business areas such as Dongmen and Huaqiangbei where many of them work.
Shenzhen Pengyun International Travel Service Transport Co. said the company had added 20 buses Saturday taking the total number of buses on this route to 80.
Following trials Dec. 26 before the opening of Metro Line 3, the city transport commission suspended a plan to put buses of five routes connecting with Caopu Station because of the limited space and the converging of bus and train passengers.
(Han Ximin)
