After nearly over five months, metro services resumed across most cities on Monday amid strict regulations and social distancing, and use of masks and face shields by passengers.Metro stations in containment zones, however, remained closed, as per the Centre’s guidelines.
As part of Unlock 4.0, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had announced the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) had said that multi-route metro networks should resume trains from September 7 in a graded manner so that all lines were operational by September 12.
Metros across Delhi witnessed chaos on its opening day after several passengers, mostly in underground stations, faced difficulties purchasing new smart cards or getting them recharged through cashless modes due to network issues.
Tokens are not permitted for travelling in order to prevent transmission of the virus through frequent touching.
Only smart cardholders (including QR code users on Airport Express Line) are permitted to use the rail services.
“I waited for about 10-15 minutes before I could successfully make the payment.
Had it been a normal day, it would have led to chaos,” one Parvez Ahmed, who was travelling from Saket to Azadpur, was quoted as saying by PTI.Besides this, the closure of most entry-exit gates also caused delay and inconvenience.
