The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited has announced that the metro services in the city are likely to resume after the 31st of August. This is supposed to be a part of the Unlock phase 4.
According to the sources, the rail corporation is prepared to resume the services anytime soon. The corporation is awaiting the complete guidelines that will be issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The managing director Ajay Seth said,
“We can get ready in four to five days.”
Safety Precautions To Be Taken Care Off
The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited is also in the preparations to run the service in compliance with the safety guidelines during the COVID-19 crisis. The rails services will screen the passengers through thermal scanners and will ensure social distancing inside the trains by pasting stickers on seats. The services will run with a maximum of 65 passengers in one metro train. The passengers will not be issued any tokens and neither will the users be able to recharge their cards at the station counters. All the transactions will be shifted to an online portal. Seth said,
“Metro will not carry more than 20 percent of its passengers capacity to ensure social distancing. A six-coach train will ferry only around 350 passengers for the next four-six months. Only alternate seats will be occupied. Stickers will be pasted on seats which are not to be occupied.”
The metro services have been shut since the 22nd of March, two days prior to the nationwide lockdown. As per the estimate, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited has incurred a loss of over Rs. 80 lakh every day and close to Rs, 25 crores every month. During the shutdown, the project funds have been used to pay the salaries of the staff.
The number of coronavirus cases in the state has crossed over 2.8 lakh out of which 81,211 cases are active. The active cases in the city of Bengaluru are around 34,000.
Source: Times of India
