# Bengaluru Metro skips three stations after Freedom Habba crowd surge 2026-08-15T20:28:18+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Bengaluru Metro temporarily shut three Purple Line stations on Saturday evening after thousands converged on Vidhana Soudha for the Freedom Habba event, causing severe overcrowding. The Times of India reports that Sir M Visvesvaraya Central College and Cubbon Park Metro stations were closed around 7pm, with trains skipping them. Dr BR Ambedkar Vidhana Soudha station had already been shut from 10.30am to 9.30pm on directions from authorities. All three reopened by 10pm. The Deccan Herald adds that the crowd at MG Road station, where families, students and office-goers sat on the floor, became so heavy that passengers pushed and shouted at Platform 2. Some commuters abandoned the Metro and walked to other stations. Traffic restrictions around Vidhana Soudha diverted vehicles onto alternative routes, which also saw heavy congestion. Auto-rickshaw fares surged, with one passenger reporting paying nearly double the usual fare to travel from the venue to Cunningham Road. BMRCL stated that the stations were closed for passenger safety and that services resumed only after clearance from local police. ## Coverage - timesofindia.indiatimes.com - deccanherald.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-16T03:27:31+00:00. Tags: Bengaluru, BMRCL, Freedom Habba, Independence Day, Vidhana Soudha Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/bengaluru-metro-skips-stops-after-crowd-crush-on-independence-day/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/bengaluru-metro-skips-stops-after-crowd-crush-on-independence-day/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/