After a hiatus of over five months, Delhi's lifeline - the metro trains - will resume services from 7 September. The Union Home Ministry on Saturday issued the Unlock 4 guidelines under which metro trains will be allowed to resume services from September 7 in a graded manner.
The announcement came on a day when Delhi recorded 1,954 fresh Covid-19 cases, the city's highest single-day spike in August till date, , taking the tally to over 1.71 lakh. This is the highest number of cases in the last nearly 50 days.
Minutes after the go-ahead from the Centre, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporatiob (DMRC) issued a statement saying the protocols that need to be followed at the station and inside trains will be released after specific guidelines are issued by the Centre.
"As per the latest guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs under Unlock-4, the Delhi Metro will be resuming its services for public from 7th September 2020 onwards in a caliberated manner. Further details on the Metro functioning and its usage by the general public will be shared once the detailed SOP on Metros is issued by the Ministery of Housing and Urban Affairs in next few days," said Anuj Dayal, executive director (corporate communications), DMRC.
Earlier, DMRC had put in place a series of measures when its services resume. Let's take a look at them:
At the metro station
-Tokens will no longer be issued to passengers.
-Automatic top-up and smart cards will be available for contactless travel.
-Smart cards will be auto-topped up at automatic fare collection (AFC) gates.
-Red lines have been drawn at regular intervals next to AFC gates and security checking gates, just before commuters enter near platform areas.
-Provision for hand sanitisation.
-All passengers arriving at metro stations will be thermally screened by CISF staff.
-The security personnel will also check whether the passengers have Aaogya Setu app on their phones.
-CISF personnel at door-frame metal detectors will mandatorily wear a mask shield, face mask, and gloves.
-The security officials will use modified hand-held metal detectors to check passengers from a distance.
At the platform
-On platform floors, large stickers bearing 'Ensure Social Distancing' message with a white circle bordered by a red circle, have been pasted at regular intervals to alert commuters.
-Trains will stop longer at each station
In the coach
-The number of passengers in a train will be limited to 300-350.
-Only alternate seats will be used.
-Air conditioners inside trains will be set at 26 degrees Celsius
-Passengers will be required to wear their mask throughout their journey.
