Hour-long waits to board a Metro

With a 50% cap on seating, the waiting time at many stations across the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) network increased to 50 minutes during rush hour, officials said.

Commuters thronged Metro stations, resulting in long, serpentine queues outside, as a majority of activities reopened in Delhi on Monday.

Image courtesy: HT photo

With a 50% cap on seating, the waiting time at many stations across the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) network increased to 50 minutes during rush hour, officials said, attributing the delay to strict adherence to guidelines issued by the Delhi government.

“DMRC is taking all necessary measures to ensure that the guidelines in place for the operation of Metro services is stringently followed. Flying squads are travelling across the system to counsel and, if necessary, penalise passengers who are not following Covid guidelines,” said Anuj Dayal, executive director (corporate communications), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).

“Standing passengers are also being de-boarded in accordance with the rules. Stations are being temporarily closed or entry is being regulated as well. These are attempts to regulate and control the flow of passengers for their safe travel,” he added.

While distancing was maintained inside stations and trains, it led to long queues outside stations. In some stations around Dwarka, Kashmere Gate, Rajiv Chowk, Qutub Minar and GTB Nagar, the queues continued for a few kilometres during the peak rush hours in the morning and in the evening.

According to DMRC’s official Twitter handle on Monday morning, the waiting time at the Dwarka Mor and Nawada stations on the Blue Line, connecting Dwarka Sector 21 and Noida Electronic City, was around 50 minutes.

At least nine stations, including Dwarka Mor, Uttam Nagar East, Janakpuri East, Dwarka, Karol Bagh, Brigadier Hoshiar Singh, Govindpuri, Badarpur and Lajpat Nagar, were also closed intermittently to ensure that there was no crowding inside the network.

These stations were shut for between 10 to 20 minutes.