“Next station is Rajiv Chowk. Doors will open on the left, please mind the gap.”
The lifeline of NCR, Delhi Metro, resumed services yesterday after being shut for nearly five months due to the pandemic. As of now, the services have resumed on the yellow line under heavy precautions.
Lines to open in stages
As per the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), metro services will resume in the following stages:
>7th September onwards: Yellow Line (Samaypur Badli to HUDA City Centre) and Rapid Metro Gurgaon
>9th September onwards: Blue Line (Dwarka sec 21 to Noida Electronic city/Vaishali) and Pink Line (Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar)
>10th September onwards: Red Line (Rithala to Shaheed Sthal), Green Line (Kirti Nagar/Inderlok to Brig. Hoshiar Singh) and Violet Line (Kashmere Gate to Raja Nahar Singh)
The timings for Yellow, Blue, Red, Violet and Green lines will be 7am-11am and 4pm-8pm.
>11th September onwards: Magenta Line (Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden) and Grey Line (Dwarka to Najafgarh).
>12th September onwards: Airport Express Line (New Delhi to Dwarka Sec 21).
The timings for Magenta and Grey lines will be 7am-1pm and 4pm-10pm while the timings for the Airport Express line will be 6am-11pm.
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Book IRCTC TicketsLimited entry gates to open
Only one or two entry gates at a metro station will be open. As per the list released by DMRC, only gate no 7 of the Rajiv Chowk metro station will remain open. On the other hand, the Chandni Chowk metro station will be accessible from gate no 5. Check the entry and exit gates for all the metro stations in this tweet:
A few earmarked gates have been identified for the entry/exit of passengers. Please visit the following link for a detailed list. #MetroBackOnTrackhttps://t.co/fQcq5Cxcpj
— Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (@OfficialDMRC) September 4, 2020
Guidelines for passengers
The DMRC also issued a detailed set of guidelines for passengers. The most important ones are:
- Only smart cards will be issued. They can be recharged online or bought at the metro stations using cashless payment mode only.
- Thermal scanning will be done at the entry gates and only passengers with normal temperature and face masks will be allowed to enter the metro stations.
- Only three people will be allowed in the lift at a time. Passengers must also maintain one-step distance on escalators.
- The temperature inside the trains will be maintained at 26 degrees Celsius.
- Inside coaches, travellers must sit on alternate seats and maintain social distance even while standing.
- The stoppage duration of trains at stations has been increased from 10-15 seconds to 20-25 seconds and from 35-40 seconds to 55-60 seconds at interchange facilities.
- Downloading the Aarogya Setu app is advisable.
- Passengers must talk as less as possible inside the trains and travel with minimum luggage.
- Parking facilities will remain operational on the metro stations.
More than 15000 passengers travelled on Day 1
As many as 15500 passengers travelled till 8:30pm on the yellow line and Rapid line on day 1. No stations on the Yellow Line are closed as of now as none is in proximity to any containment zone.
Note: The above guidelines and schedule of metro lines are subject to change. We advise travellers to plan their trip accordingly.
Image credits: DMRC twitter handle
