Over 4 lakh passengers used Metro trains across cities on Saturday, the first day that the Metro networks were fully operational after resuming services in a graded manner from Monday, according to Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry officials.
Metro trains had resumed operations with limited timings and number of lines on Monday after five-and-a-half-months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While announcing the resumption of Metro operations, HUA Minister Hardeep Puri had said all lines and regular timings would be operational by Saturday. The Maharashtra government had decided not to resume Metro operations till October or a later date to be decided by the State, Mr. Puri had said.
On Friday, the total ridership on Metros had been about 2.5 lakh and the number had reached 4,38,273 as around 10 p.m. on Saturday, HUA Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said.
The Delhi Metro, which is the largest Metro network in the country, had all its lines operational for the normal working hours of 6 a.m. till 11 p.m. for the first time in over five months. In a statement, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said ridership had been over 1.52 lakh as of 7.30 p.m.
“It has been a good start. This is with the Metro lines in Maharashtra yet to resume operations. People have been conscious of maintaining distance and wearing masks,” Mr. Mishra said.
However, the ridership figures during the first week of resumption of operations remained well below the pre-COVID-19 numbers. As many as 80 lakh passenger journeys, of which about 60 lakh were on the Delhi Metro alone, were recorded on the Metro networks in the country in March before the pandemic, an official said.