After more than five months of being shut, metro rail services across the nation are set to resume for the public from 7 September. To avoid overcrowding at the stations, the Centre on Wednesday released new guidelines for running metro rails. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday announced the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for metro rail services in the country. It was prepared by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and has been concurred with by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The guidelines announced by the Minister are as follows: (a) Metros having more than one line should open different lines starting from 7 September onwards in a graded manner so that all corridors become operational by 12 September. Daily hours of operations may be staggered initially, which needs to be increased gradually with resumption of full revenue service by 12 September. Frequency of trains to be regulated to avoid passenger crowding at stations and in trains. (b) Stations/ entry-exit gates in containment zones to be closed. (c) In order to ensure social distancing, suitable markings at stations and inside trains to be done. (d) Wearing a face mask to be mandatory for all passengers and staff. Metro rail corporations may make arrangements for supply of masks on payment basis to the persons arriving without mask. (e) Only asymptomatic persons are allowed to travel after thermal screening at entry into the stations. Symptomatic persons should be advised to go to nearby Covid Care Centre/ Hospital for testing/medical attention. Use of Aarogya Setu App to be encouraged. (f) Provision of sanitizers to be made at entry into the stations for use by passengers. All areas having human interface like equipment, train, working area, lift, escalators, handrail, AFC gate, toilets, etc, need to be sanitised at regular intervals. (g) Use of Smart Card and cashless/ online transactions to be encouraged. Tokens and paper slips/ tickets to be used with proper sanitisation. (h) Adequate dwell time at stations to be provided to enable smooth boarding/deboarding ensuring social distancing. Metro rail corporations may also resort to skipping of stations to ensure proper social distancing. (i) Passengers to be advised to travel with minimum luggage and avoid carrying metallic items for easy and quick scanning.(j) Operation of Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system as per the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) guidelines. Intake of fresh air in the air-conditioning system to be increased to the maximum extent possible. (k) Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign to be launched for passenger and staff through electronic/print/social media, poster, banner, hoarding, website, etc. (l) Metro rail corporations to keep close liaison with state police and local administration for regulating crowds outside stations and to deal with contingencies. (m) All passenger movement to be monitored via CCTV and passengers should be told not to idle around inside metro premises. (n) If social distancing isn’t followed at a particular station, then the train will not be stopping there.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Durga Shankar Mishra, also talked about guidelines and said, “It will take a longer time for the metro rail to arrive as they will be sanitised after every journey, so please show patience.” He further requested all citizens to be civilised, saying that the service was beginning after5.5 months and people should not misuse it.
Talking about the Delhi Metro services, MD of DMRC Mangu Singh said, “Initially, the only yellow line service will run and that too from 7 to 11 in the morning and 4 to 8 in the evening. Later, on 9 September, we will begin the Blue Line and the rest of the lines on 10 September. The timings will remain the same till the 11th, but from the 12th, the service will run on its original schedule from 6 am to 11 pm.”
He further added that the token system will not be activated in Delhi, with only smart cards being accepted and clarified that not all gates of the station will be open. He also said that entry and exit points will be different to maintain social distancing.