New Delhi: Low footfall, confusion over lines and technical glitches while recharging of smart cards greeted the resumption of Metro train services across India on Monday.
Metro services are resuming in a graded manner after having been shut for 169 days during the COVID-19 lockdown. In Mumbai, the services will resume in October.
The Centre had earlier announced resumption of these services under Unlock 4 and issued standard operating procedures. In cities with multiple lines, the opening of corridors will be done in a phased manner, with all the lines becoming operational by September 12.
At all the stations, commuters were screened at the entrance for temperature, and only those wearing masks were allowed in. They were made to keep a distance of at least one metre with each other and travel was only permitted through smart cards.
The service was also restricted to a certain number of hours.
Also read: Metro Services to Start: What Changes, What Remains the Same With ‘Unlock 4’
Both Delhi and Noida operate services but without interconnectivity
In Delhi, the Metro service resumed on only the Yellow Line that connects Samaypur Badli in the north of the city to HUDA City Centre in Gurugram (Haryana) and that too at an interval of five minutes. This also led to confusion among commuters who were under the impression that they would even be able to travel to Noida in UP by changing to the Blue line from Rajiv Chowk station.
Delhi Metro has begun its graded resumption of services today. Travelling from Rajiv Chowk to Malviya Nagar by metro, MD-DMRC Dr. Mangu Singh inspected the system keeping in view the new guidelines during the pandemic. #MetroBackOnTrack pic.twitter.com/V0D4bAddwa
— Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (@OfficialDMRC) September 7, 2020
A cause for the confusion was probably the fact that Metro services on the Noida-Greater Noida Aqua Line too resumed today.
This gave people the impression that Delhi Metro would provide some connective facility between its Yellow Line and the Aqua Line. On the Aqua Line, trains were operated on intervals of 15 minutes. The timings were the same as that of Delhi Metro.
Commuters face issues with smart cards
Some commuters faced issues while purchasing or recharging smart cards due to network failures. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation had announced earlier that it would not allow travel on tokens for the time being. Agencies reported that at many stations, including Central Secretariat, Chawri Bazar, and Chandni Chowk, passengers complained of glitches while making online payments.
Overall, the footfall was low. In Delhi, only 7,500 commuters travelled on the system Delhi between 7 am and 11 am. This was in sharp contrast to the lakhs who undertake the journey on this popular line daily. Apart from four hours in the morning, the Metro service operated for another four hours from 4 to 8 in the evening.
A few happy faces from our first journey after more than 5 months. 😀#MetroBackOnTrack pic.twitter.com/mIuVK9wHGp
— Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (@OfficialDMRC) September 7, 2020
Commercial units, eateries at stations remain closed
While the resumption of service is being looked at with hope since traders and business people feel it would result in more business, at the Metro stations, the vends are still not operational.
With the entire emphasis on keeping station premises and coaches sanitised, the commercial units at the stations, including eateries, have not been allowed to open as yet.
In Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been seeking restart of Metro operations for over a month now, expressed happiness at the resumption of services. He also requested people to take all necessary precautions while commuting.
Hyderabad opens one of three corridors
In Hyderabad, the Metro services resumed on one of the three corridors with the new mandatory guidelines in place. To begin with, the city began operations on the 29-kilometre LB Nagar-Miyapur corridor.
Inspection of safety measures in view of Covid-19 by HMR MD before the formal resumption of metro rail services.#HMR #HyderabadMetro #SafeMetro #Unlock4.0 #Covid19 #UnlockGuidelines #MyCityMetro pic.twitter.com/zdKBpfBh7Y
— Hyderabad Metro Rail (@hmrgov) September 6, 2020
The service started at 7 am and continued for five hours with not many people using the system. In the evening, Hyderabad Metro operated its trains from 4 pm till 9 pm. So the service operated for 10 hours in a day as against eight in case of Delhi.
Bengaluru too resumed its Metro train services today, but restricted operations to just six hours a day. The city began operations from 8 in the morning. It was announced that trains would run in two shifts of three hours each. In the afternoon, the services operated from 4 pm.
Bengaluru Metro had said that strict adherence to the SOPs would be ensured and non-compliant passengers would be offloaded.
It had also stated that if the crows would become unmanageable, then it would pause its services and take passengers off. “If required, we can de-board the passengers and stop the service if they don’t follow the standard operating procedures,” an official of the rail corporation told a news agency.
Lucknow, Chennai, Kochi also resume operations
Lucknow Metro too resumed its services from 6 am, covering all its 16 stations. Few passengers came out early in the morning and the numbers slightly increased as the day grew.
In Tamil Nadu, the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) resumed its train services from 7 am and state Industries Minister M.C. Sampath took the first train from Airport metro station to Washermenpet.
Press Release- 07.09.2020 pic.twitter.com/FeKx13s65O
— Chennai Metro Rail (@cmrlofficial) September 7, 2020
In Kerala, Metro rail services resumed in Kochi on a day when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the new Thykoodam-Pettah stretch. As such the first trains started operating between Thykoodam and Aluva resumed at 7 am.
The new section has been constructed at a cost of Rs 6,218 crore. The formal inauguration event was presided over by Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri over a virtual platform a few hours later.
What the SOPs say
Earlier, on September 3, the detailed guidelines covering the operation of Metro services in Delhi, Noida, Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Mumbai Line-1, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Maha Metro (Nagpur), Kolkata, Gujarat and UP Metro (Lucknow) were issued by the Ministry of Urban Affairs.
Under this it was stated that all Metro lines in cities with multiple corridors will be opened in a phased manner by September 12. However, stations falling in containment zones will remain closed.
Also, the guidelines had advocated social distancing through limited operations, saying: “Daily hours of operations may be staggered initially, which needs to be increased gradually with resumption of full revenue service by September 12, 2020. Frequency of trains to be regulated to avoid passenger crowding at stations and in trains.”
With Maharashtra not keen on resuming services in view of the high prevalence of COVID-19 cases, Puri had stated in a press conference that “Mumbai Line-1 and Maharashtra Metro operations shall commence from October, 2020 or as state Government may decide further.”
A woman wearing a face mask travels inside a Delhi metro train, on the first day of the restart of their operations, amidst the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New Delhi, India, September 7, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Adnan Abidi
Screening for temperature, use of sanitisers at entrance
Under the SOP, all commuters are to be screened for temperature and those showing symptoms of COVID-19 would not be allowed to travel. They would be advised to advised to go to nearby Covid Care Centre or hospital for testing or medical attention. Also, “use of Aarogya Setu App will be encouraged,” the guidelines had stated.
At the entrance to the stations provision of sanitizers has also been made. Passengers have been advised to travel with minimum luggage and avoid carrying metallic items for easy and quick scanning.
Alternate seats to be left vacant for social distancing
The SOPs also provide for suitable markings at stations and inside trains to ensure social distancing. In the trains, alternate seats have been left empty with stickers urging people not to sit on them.
Passengers and staff are required to wear a mask at all times. Those not having one would be required to purchase it at the station.
As for the air-conditioning, the SOPs had laid down that it would be done as per the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) guidelines. Also, it said, intake of fresh air in the air-conditioning system would be “increased to the extent possible”.