The standard operating procedures (SOPs) for restarting Metro rail under the Unlock 4.0 guidelines are expected to be announced on September 2, officials said.
The SOPs are expected to be issued after approval by the home ministry.
A meeting chaired by secretary, ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) Durga Shankar Mishra and attended by 15 managing directors of metro rail corporation was held on September 1, an official said.
The final guidelines are expected to be announced by the housing and urban development minister Hardeep Puri on September 2, they said.
“As informed earlier, the Metro Rail operations have been allowed with effect from September 7, 2020. The SOPs already circulated were discussed on September 1 through VC by D.S Mishra, secretary, MOHUA with MDs of various Metro companies,” the housing ministry spokesperson Rajeev Jain said.
“The suggestions were considered in the VC meeting and accordingly SOPs are being finalised,” he said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs on August 29 issued Unlock 4 guidelines, permitting metro rail operations from September 7 in a graded manner.
Metro stations in containment zones will still not immediately open when Metro operations restart on September 7.
On August 29, Noida Metro Rail Corporation managing director Ritu Maheshwari had said that “as per the latest guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs under Unlock-4, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) will be resuming its services on the Aqua Line for the public from 7th September 2020 onwards in a calibrated 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 Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and the Uttar Pradesh Government in the next few days, she had said.
Limiting the number of people in lifts and longer halting time for trains at stations to allow commuters to board and alight with social distancing norms, are among the measures the Delhi Metro intends to put in place to ensure safer travel for its passengers.
Wearing of masks will be mandatory and social distancing norms will be followed as per government guidelines inside the stations.
New smart cards with auto top-up facility and stickers on social distancing norms will be pasted on seats and platform floors.
A train on regular days, halts for 10 seconds to 30 seconds at a station, depending on the traffic flow and the nature of the station. Now, trains will halt for a longer duration than 10 seconds or 30 seconds
Also, 2-3 persons will be permissible inside a lift at any point of time against 8-9 on regular days, he said.
The lifeline of Delhi and its suburbs, which carries 1.8 million passengers a day, the Delhi Metro was shut down in late March as the country was put under lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Shut for more than four months following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delhi Metro, the lifeline of the National Capital Region, has lost approximately Rs 1,500 crore in revenue, sources had told Moneycontrol.
“The DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) normally earns Rs 300 crore every month,” a source had said.
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