New Delhi, February 6: The Delhi Metro might not allow commuters carrying oversized baggage to travel in the train at 20 select stations, including New Delhi station, from March.
In the first step in this direction, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has recently installed U-shaped metal barriers in front of X-ray baggage screening machines, which don’t allow oversized baggage to enter the machine at five metro stations — Barakhamba Road, Anand Vihar, Chandni Chowk, Kashmere Gate and Shahdara, the Times of India reported.
From March, it will be extended at 15 more stations — Adarsh Nagar, Azadpur, Badarpur, Botanical Garden, Chawri Bazar, Dilshad Garden, Govindpuri, HUDA City Centre, Inderlok, Karol Bagh, Lal Quila, Nangloi, R K Ashram Marg, Rithala and New Delhi.
“This is being done to ensure adherence to norms of baggage size allowed as per operations and maintenance Act of DMRC and inputs from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF),” a DMRC spokesperson said.
As per the DMRC’s operations and maintenance Act, commuters can’t carry baggage that is heavier than 15kg and the dimensions fixed for it is 60 centimetre length, 45 centimetre width and a height of not more than 25centimetre. Even though rules were in place from the very beginning, the DMRC has now taken measures that commuters adhere to it.
But the installation of U-shaped barriers would pose biggest problem at the New Delhi metro station as for many air travellers the station is an interchange point for those travelling by the Airport Express Line. “As of now, we are not returning passengers with oversized baggage from the five stations where the barriers have been installed. Such baggage is checked physically by our personnel,” he said. “We are trying to educate and inform commuters at present so that they don’t travel with oversized baggage,” he added.
When DMRC and CISF start barring passengers with oversized baggage from travelling, the money they have spent on buying tokens would be returned.
The over 150 stations of the Delhi Metro are the travel gateway for about 30 lakh passengers every day to various locations in the national capital region.