Metro train services will be only half of the pre-COVID levels and will operate at a third of the passenger capacity once the services restart next week, a top official said on Saturday. Time duration of the operations for the single 11-km line between Ghatkopar to Versova has also been curtailed to 12 hours starting from 0830 hrs daily, Mumbai Metro One’s chief executive Abhau Kumar Mishra told reporters while showing the revamped set up.
He said the cut in services, passengers and operational timing is to ensure the passenger safety through proper social distancing which needs to be followed. Only 200 services of trains will run with services in either direction in up to 8 minutes as against 5 minutes and 400 services earlier. As against 1,350 people per service earlier, now the train will carry only 360 people.
It can be noted that earlier this week, the Maharashtra government had allowed Metro services in the financial capital to resume from October 15, but the company decided to start it from Monday after finishing all the safety runs. Temperatures inside the coaches will be maintained between 25-27 degree Celsius and passengers are encouraged to use digital tickets, smart cards or QR code-based tickets, an official statement said, adding no plastic token will be issued.
The authorities will be carrying out regular disinfection of all the stations and also the coaches, it said. Over 300 workers have worked through the lockdown period for upkeep of the trains and the station infrastructure, Mishra said, adding 32 of them had turned positive for COVID-19 of which four continue to be infected.
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