As the Delhi Metro gears up to resume services after over five months, less frequent trains, discontinuation of tokens and an increase in the dwell time of trains to provide enough time to passengers to board and exit, are some of the steps to be followed according to the standard operating procedure (SOP) prepared by the public transporter.
Metro services which have remained suspended since March 22 following the nationwide lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, are likely to resume operations under the Unlock 4.0 guidelines to be issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
“Tokens will not be permitted for travelling, only smart cards will be allowed. All transactions for recharge of cards will be done through cashless mode, tokens will not be allowed for travel, only smart card or QR code will be allowed, ticket vending machine will not accept cash,” read the SOP.
Auto top-up feature
The Delhi Metro on August 19 had announced the launch of a new facility with an auto top-up feature that would help commuters recharge their smart cards automatically at the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates at metro stations.
Among other measures, apart from thermal screening of all passengers at frisking points, commuters will also need to have the Aarogya Setu App.
“Passengers to sit on alternate seats in the train or stand, maintaining a gap of one metre. Suitable marking on the seats will be made. The dwell time of trains will be substantially increased so that passengers have sufficient time to board and alight. This will avoid pushing by passengers,” the document read.
While stations and trains are to be disinfected after operational hours, steps are also being taken to provide maximum fresh air inside the trains and in underground stations to reduce transmission of the virus, it said.
The SOP added that metro trains will not stop at stations falling in containment zones and some stations maybe “skipped if sufficient passengers are not available”.
Parking and feeder bus services will, however, remain suspended, according to the document.