Subway rail services in Mumbai are preparing to reopen to passengers starting tomorrow, after nearly seven months of inactivity in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. After that, the financial capital of India today resumed monorail services in the city.
The monorail began operating in the 20 km corridor between Chembur and Jacob Circle in Mumbai.
Considering the Covid-19 situation, the monorail service in Mumbai was resumed with full caution and other SOPs set by the authorities. “We have developed internal SOPs. ‘No mask, no entry’ is being followed. Services will continue from 7: 03-11: 40 am and 4: 03-9: 24 pm,” Rohan Salukhe, a senior service official said. .
In addition, passengers are advised to travel with the minimum of luggage and avoid carrying metal items for a faster search. They should have only pocket sanitizers, if any, during the trip. At monorail stations, entry points will be limited, according to officials.
On top of that, Mumbai metro services will resume from tomorrow, October 19, with standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place.
The Maharashtra government allowed the resumption of subway services in the state from October 15, but the company decided to start it from Monday after finishing all safety tours. Metro train services will be only half of pre-COVID levels and will operate at one-third of passenger capacity.
The duration of operations for the single 11 km line between Ghatkopar and Versova was also reduced to 12 hours from 08:30 a.m. daily, Mumbai Metro One CEO Abhau Kumar Mishra told reporters while showing the renewed configuration.
He said the cut in services, passengers and operational time is to ensure passenger safety through proper social distancing that must be followed. Only 200 train services will operate with services in any direction in up to 8 minutes, compared to 5 minutes and 400 services before.
Compared to 1,350 people per service before, the train will now carry only 360 people.
Temperatures inside the carriages will remain between 25 and 27 degrees Celsius and passengers are encouraged to use digital tickets, smart cards or QR code-based tickets, an official statement said, adding that no plastic tokens will be issued. The authorities will carry out a regular disinfection of all stations and also of the wagons, he said.
More than 300 workers have worked during the lockdown period for the maintenance of trains and station infrastructure, Mishra said, adding that 32 of them had tested positive for COVID-19, of which four remain infected.
The monorail has been completely closed since March 22 amid the pandemic-induced lockdown in the country. After resumption, services will initially run 100 trips in one day. A call about the execution of additional services will be determined by the response of the traveler.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government allowed gyms and fitness centers in the state to reopen from Dusshera from October 25, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s secretariat said on Saturday.
With a total of 1,85,750 active cases, Maharashtra remains the most affected state by COVID-19 in the country. While 13,58,606 patients have recovered from the disease in the state, 41,965 have died so far
With PTI inputs
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