New Delhi: To prevent contraction of the coronavirus, the government is likely to get rid of the single token ticket system and switch to contactless smart cards for all travelling on metros across India once the services resume after the nationwide lockdown is lifted.
The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, which is working on the resumption of the metro rail services, proposed to do away with the tokens as part of a draft standard operating procedure (SOP), the Hindustan Times reported.
“We are planning to allow the use of metro cards only and make ticketing as contactless as possible to avoid queues at counters,” one of the officials privy to the development told the HT.
The proposal is part of the Centre’s measures to implement social distancing while travelling by metro. To prevent the spread of the COVID-19, screening and crowd control measures will also be taken at stations.
Smart cards can be recharged and allow automatic fare collection at access gates, while tokens can be used only for single journeys at ticket counters that often see long queues.
The official said a review meeting was held on Tuesday to plan how the metro services would be run once the restrictions are lifted. “We will need to manage crowds first and foremost... and manage the frequency of the trains depending on the crowds.”
Metro train services along with passenger trains and flight services have been suspended since March 25.
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