Delhi Metro closes 20 stations to manage crowds amid curfew

Metro began closing the entry to its stations at 6.30am with New Delhi station, which is near the railway station. This was followed by Chandni Chowk, Kashmere Gate, Rajiv Chowk, Jhandewalan, RK Ashram Marg, Karkardooma, Preet Vihar, and Nirman Vihar among others

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Tuesday, the first day of the week-long curfew in Delhi, closed entry of over 20 stations to manage the peak hour rush.

Representational Image. (File photo)

Metro began closing the entry to its stations at 6.30am with New Delhi station, which is near the railway station. DMRC tweeted, “Entry for New Delhi has been temporarily closed to ensure social distancing as part of our crowd control measures. Exit is allowed.”

This was followed by Chandni Chowk, Kashmere Gate, Rajiv Chowk, Jhandewalan, RK Ashram Marg, Karkardooma, Preet Vihar, Nirman Vihar, Supreme Court, Anand Vihar, ISBT Vaishali, Shadipur, and Dwarka Mor among others.

There were many stations in the NCR which were also closed as a part of the crowd controlling measure.

After the peak hour rush on Tuesday, the DMRC revised its train schedule. A lot of essential service providers, who are eligible to travel by Metro during curfew, were stuck as stations were closed.

Anuj Dayal, executive director, corporate communication, DMRC, said, “Services during morning (7am-11am) and evening (4pm-8pm) peak hours across the network will be available with a headway (frequency) of 15 minutes. For the rest of the hours of the day, services across the network will be available with a frequency of 30 minutes. In addition, standby trains on each Line will also be available whole day for induction into services as per requirement.”