Chennai metro resumes with less patronage

CHENNAI: Low passenger footfalls at metro stations marked the resumption of train operations on one of the two phase-1 corridors from Washermenpet to Airport amid strict restrictions on Monday, after a break of five months.
Passengers walking into metro stations were allowed only with face masks, screened for body temperature and encouraged to sanitize their hands at the station entrance. Operations on other corridors from Central Metro to St Thomas Mount will resume on September 9.
On Monday, the metro rail network in the city was one among a few others in the country to resume services since the nationwide lockdown in March to control coronavirus spread. Trains were operated from 7am to 8pm with a five-minute frequency during peak hours and 10-minute frequency during non-peak hours to facilitate passengers to maintain physical distance while on commute. Industries minister MC Sampath boarded the first train in Airport station at 7am to reach Nandanam. The day, however, started with a lukewarm response from commuters with trains running near empty. One of the reasons, according to metro rail officials, was officegoers particularly IT employees working from home and educational institutions yet to open.
“I was spending on autorickshaws every day to get to my workplace. Metro trains are not that crowded, comparatively affordable and are closer to my workplace,” said Geetha S, who boarded the train at Alandur to her office in Broadway. CMRL’s pre-Covid daily average footfall was around 1.16 lakh against an estimated 7.76 lakh.
A CMRL official said their computers showed more than 100 passengers had swiped out of Central metro before 9am. Some of the passengers at Central metro, the underground transit hub, could be those heading to the central railway station to board outstation trains, which resumed operations on Monday. “It is convenient to take the metro especially when you are carrying luggage, as it is closer to Central Railway Station,” said Raghavendar, a passenger who left Central metro on Monday afternoon.
While the footfalls improved by Monday evening with commuters boarding trains at Guindy, Nandanam and DMS, many of the regular passengers could not use the service as only one corridor was open for service. Many airlines and ground handling staff, who regularly used the metro trains to work at the airport, could not use the service when it resumed as they all board trains from stations like Vadapalani, Ashok Nagar and Anna Nagar, which is part of the Central-St Thomas Mount line that will open on Wednesday. “I am waiting for the second line to open on Wednesday, so I could comfortably get to work,” said RS Ramesh, who boards the train from Shenoy Nagar to his workplace on Anna Salai.
Apart from the QR-code ticketing and travel card reader introduced to provide contactless travel for commuters, a Cmrl official said they spent nearly ?50lakh to employ more staff at every station to regulate crowd and ensure social distancing is maintained. “We expect the footfalls to go up gradually. We have taken all measures to provide safe travel for passengers,” a top official said. The total footfall for Monday, will however, be known only on Tuesday morning, officials said.