On Friday, the Delhi Metro resumed services on two more corridors: the Magenta Line (West Janakpuri to Botanical Garden) and the Gray Line (Dwarka to Najafgarh) as part of its gradual unblocking plan. With this, it has now reopened all its main lines.
The last line in the network, the Airport Express Line, will open on Saturday, when the Delhi Metro will return to its pre-closing operating hours from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Metro services were closed on March 22, in light of the outbreak. of Covid-19.
On Friday, the Delhi Metro registered a total number of passengers of 1,28,886 (as of 7:30 p.m.). The Magenta Line served 6,953 passengers and the Gray Line 514 passengers. The number of passengers on the Yellow Line (from Huda city center to Samaypur Badli) was 41,689, while on the Blue Line it was 38,623 (Dwarka Sector-21 to Vaishali / Noida Electronic Center). Pink Line (Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar) received 8,678 passengers and Red Line 15,485 passengers.
Around 11,119 people traveled on the Violet Line (Kashmere Gate to Ballabhgarh) and 5,825 on the Green Line (Inderlok / Kirti Nagar to Bahadurgarh).
Anticipating a further increase in passenger flow, Mangu Singh, managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), sent a video message to Delhi residents, urging them to “break the peak” and avoid crowds in the system. He also urged them to use the Metro system to travel only if necessary during the pandemic.
“Starting tomorrow (Saturday) normal services will resume in the Delhi metro. However, with the social distancing regulations in place, our carrying capacity has been drastically reduced. Before, we could carry around 300 passengers in a coach, but now that has been reduced to just 50. With this in mind, I ask you to stagger your travel hours, ”said Singh.
He continued in the video message: “If you avoid traveling during rush hours, DMRC will also be able to provide you with the best service. I also ask all employers to stagger their office hours and allow their staff flexible working hours. Do not think that the situation has returned to normal; people who work from home, please continue to do so. ”
To ensure travel options for those who appear for the National Entry Eligibility Test (NEET) on Sunday, the DMRC has also decided to begin its services from 6 a.m., instead of the usual 8 a.m. on Sundays, at all lines.
However, the DMRC recommended that students arrive at the stations with sufficient time available for the inspection and disinfection process at the gates and in view of the increased travel time due to the longer stop times at each station.
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