04/02/2023

The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) will resume its operations from September 7, from 8 am to 8 pm. The CMRL issued a set of guidelines for resuming operations in line with the Unlock 4 order issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently. The …

The services will run from 8 am to 8 pm every day initially.The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) will resume its operations from September 7, from 8 am to 8 pm. The CMRL issued a set of guidelines for resuming operations in line with the Unlock 4 order issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently. The CMRL had suspended its services on March 22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the new guidelines, the Metro rail services in Chennai will be operational from 8 am to 8 pm every day. The timings will be increased gradually.
The Blue line, which connects Chennai airport to Washermanpet, will resume services from September 7, Monday. The Green line, which connects Dr MG Ramachandran Central Metro to St Thomas Mount, will restart operations from September 9, Wednesday.
The trains will run with a gap of five minutes during the peak hours (8.30 am to 10.30 am and 5 pm to 8 pm) and with a gap of 10 minutes during the non-peak hours.
Here are the other rules specified by CMRL in its statement issued on Thursday:
> Symptomatic passengers or those with high temperature will not be allowed to use metro train services.
> Initially, only two entrances in Metro stations will be opened for passengers.
> Contactless frisking of passengers will be followed.
> Lifts in stations shall be used only by two to three persons at a time. Preference shall be given to the elderly and those with physical disabilities.
> Passengers are advised to stand on alternate steps on escalators.
> Hand sanitisers will be available at all the stations.
> Seats and station platforms have been marked X to indicate where passengers can sit/stand to ensure sufficient physical distancing.
> Face masks are mandatory at all times at the metro station and its premises.
> Thermal scanning of body temperature will be conducted at all the entry points of stations.
> Smart cards, contactless QR code ticketing is encouraged. Single journey tokens will, however, be available and will be sanitised.
> Shops, kiosks, food points at metro stations will be operational.
> There will not be any inter-corridor services between Dr MG Ramachandran Central Metro Station and the Airport metro station. This means that passengers want to travel from Central Metro to the airport should change lines at Alandur Metro.
> Train stoppage time will be increased to 50 seconds in each station instead of the current 20 seconds to ensure passenger movement with physical distancing and adequate air circulation.
> Air-conditioning in trains and stations shall be operated as per the norms prescribed by Central Public Works Department and Indian Society for Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning (ISHRAE).
> Passengers are encouraged to use the Arogya Setu app at the time of entry into stations.
> All spots, which are likely to have human contact (lift buttons, escalator handrails etc), will be disinfected frequently at stations. Public toilets at Metro stations will also be frequently cleaned and disinfected.
> Physical distancing will be monitored by CCTV cameras in all stations and inside the trains. 
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