A day before the opening of the Pink Line section, DMRC issued advisory
Ahead of the inauguration of the Pink Line section at Trilokpuri on August 6, the DMRC on Thursday urged commuters to travel during peak hours when it is absolutely necessary to avoid crowds amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In almost the entire fleet of DMRC, operating around 2,000 coaches, the total seating capacity available is only one lakh (50 in each coach), Delhi Metro said in a statement.
More than two lakh commuters visit the metro stations daily during peak hours.
Following the easing of COVID safety norms, the Delhi Metro will operate with full seating capacity from July 26, with no provision for standing travel for passengers.
Since the available space for seated passengers is not sufficient to allow entry to all two lakh passengers, they need to be regulated and consequently only the number of passengers that can be accommodated is allowed. The DMRC said that this would apparently lead to a large number of passengers waiting outside the stations.
Also, not all gates of the stations have been opened for entry. Only one gate is being opened at low footfall stations and two gates are being opened at busy stations.
From time to time, the reason for the above situation has been clarified and it is clarified once again that though almost all the fleet of trains are being commissioned by DMRC, yet due to the extant guidelines only seating is allowed inside the trains. is allowed leading to low carrying capacity, it added.
“Thus, in view of the current restrictions, which allow the Metro to offer only a limited number of passengers, DMRC once again advises and appeals to the general public to travel during peak hours only when it is absolutely necessary. and plan the journey as far as possible, to avoid long queues during off-peak hours, to take advantage of better capacity than during peak hours,” it said.
At present, long queues of passengers are seen outside metro stations and passengers have to wait outside the stations before being allowed to enter, the urban transport said.
To regulate the entry of passengers, it is necessary to limit the number of gates because if more gates are opened, it will be difficult to control the number of passengers inside the trains. Officials said this is the reason why a limited number of gates are opened.
The statement said that opening more gates would only lead to “crowding and violation of social distancing norms” inside trains and stations.
“Recently, random incidents have also been reported from across the network during peak hours, in which impatient commuters broke queues in metro stations, opened or forcibly damaged gates, keeping DMRC and CISF personnel on duty, copious violations of COVID-19. – Appropriate behavior,” it added.
Such acts not only cause law and order issues, but also endanger the lives of co-passengers and metro officials, besides the risk of spreading COVID-19, the statement said. also increases.
The advisory assumes significance as the Pink Line section between Trilokpuri-Sanjay Jheel and Mayur Vihar Pocket-1 will be opened for passenger services after its morning inauguration from 3 pm on Friday.
The Pink Line is all set to become DMRC’s longest operational corridor from Friday, which will save the time and money of the commuters as the Trilokpuri gap on the line has been bridged after much delay.
The Majlis Park-Shiv Vihar corridor or the Pink Line extends to 38 stations.
The Pink Line was opened in 2018 in several phases. And, all the stations on the line have been opened.
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