Contactless tickets on the anvil when metro train services resume

New Delhi, Apr 30: The government will make changes in the way tickets are distributed for travel in metro trains.

The single token tickets will be done away with and the government would allow only the use of contactless individual smart cards, when services resume. The magnetic strip card can be re-charged and these would allow automatic fare collection at the access gates.

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Commuters will have to purchase these cards at the ticket counters for single journeys.

Officials tell OneIndia that the Union Housing and Urban Affairs ministry is working on the resumption of metro rail services. The contactless ticket is part of the draft standard operating procedure that the ministry is working on. The measures would also involve managing space between passengers, crowd control and screening at the stations.

Metro trains have been suspended along with train services and flights since March 25. This was done when the first phase of the lockdown came into effect. The lockdown has since been extended until May 3.

A meeting was held on Tuesday and the main focus of the discussion was the crowd control at the metro stations. The decision on when to resume metro services will be taken over the next one week. The decision, while being taken would also take into consideration how the rest of the countries are managing the situation.

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However, it is not clear whether the Centre would resume metro services immediately after May 3. The Centre has been hinting that the lockdown would continue in the hotspots. However many more relaxations are on the cards, the Centre has also hinted.