Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), after five months, is all set resume its services for public from September 7.
Amid coronavirus pandemic, to avoid overcrowding at the stations, DMRC on Wednesday released new guidelines for running metro rails.
The Union housing and urban affairs ministry issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the functioning of metro trains allowed under the Unlock 4 guidelines.
Some Important Pointers For Metro Commuters:
Wearing a mask is mandatory.
Only asymptomatic people are allowed to board the trains.
Travellers must follow social distancing norms once metro trains start operating.
Initially, the metro will be open from 7 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 8 pm till September 10.
Only Yellow Line of Delhi Metro railways — from Samaypur Badli to Huda City Centre — will be functional in phase I.
From September 11, the metro will be functional from 7 am to 1 pm, 4 pm to 10 pm.
Delhi Metro will run from 6 am to 11 pm from September 12.
The other routes of Delhi Metro — Blue Line, Pink Line & Gurgaon Line — will start operating from September 9.
Delhi Metro will open Red, Green and Violet Lines on September 10.
Magenta and Grey Lines will open on September 11 and Airport Express Line on September 12.
The entry and exit gates of metro rail networks at containment zones will remain shut, and waiting time will increase to 5-7 minutes as trains will be sanitised at turnaround points.
Passengers are encouraged to use the coronavirus tracker app Aarogya Setu.
The frequency of trains will be regulated to avoid crowding at stations and in trains.
Use of smart cards, cashless and online transactions will be encouraged.
Based on these guidelines, the metro authorities in Delhi, Noida, Chennai, Kochi, Bengaluru, Mumbai Line-1, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Maha Metro (Nagpur), Kolkata, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have prepared their standard operating procedures.
Maharashtra has decided not to resume metro operation this month.
The Centre had suspended the metro rail services in the last week of March due to pandemic.