The Delhi Metro reopened entry and exit gates at 45 stations after a 25-hour closure on Saturday, imposed ahead of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s planned protest against chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, which was later thwarted. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) announced that gates at all stations across its network were now open.
The restrictions came into effect at 9 pm on Friday as a security measure ahead of the CJP’s planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar. Follow live updates related to CJP's protest here.
Delhi Metro says all stations now open
In a service update issued late on Saturday, the DMRC confirmed that passengers could enter and exit all Metro stations. Interchange facilities were also available at the affected stations.
Deep Dive
Are all Delhi Metro stations open now?
Why were entry and exit gates closed at 45 Delhi Metro stations?
Are Delhi Metro and railway services running on their regular schedules?
"The entry and exit gates of all Metro Stations of the Delhi Metro network are now open. The interchange facility at all the concerned Metro stations is also available," the DMRC said.
The closure at 45 stations continued until 10 pm on Saturday, extending the restrictions by four hours beyond the earlier reopening time of 6 pm.
The affected stations included major transport hubs such as Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk, Janpath, Mandi House, ITO, Kashmere Gate and New Delhi. The restrictions followed a request from the Delhi Police over concerns that crowds could move towards sensitive locations.
{{/usCountry}}The affected stations included major transport hubs such as Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk, Janpath, Mandi House, ITO, Kashmere Gate and New Delhi. The restrictions followed a request from the Delhi Police over concerns that crowds could move towards sensitive locations.
{{/usCountry}}The DMRC had earlier reduced the number of stations facing entry and exit restrictions from 57 to 45 after the Supreme Court criticised the blanket curbs. The top court had directed the Centre and Delhi Police to lift sweeping restrictions on metro and railway services.
Are trains cancelled today?
The Railways said that train services will run according to their regular schedules on Sunday, following cancellations and rescheduling on October 9-10.
The Railways had attributed the disruptions to unexpected road traffic between the two stations.
SC to hear pleas against violation of order on Delhi curbs
The Supreme Court will hear a contempt plea on Sunday alleging that authorities failed to follow its Friday order against blanket restrictions on metro and railway services. A bench comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana will take up the matter.
The petition alleges that despite the court's direction to prevent inconvenience to commuters, 57 metro stations remained closed, several trains scheduled to arrive at or depart from New Delhi and Hazrat Nizamuddin stations were cancelled, and no traffic advisory was published in newspapers, HT reported earlier.
“Notwithstanding the solemn judicial mandate and the assurance recorded before the bench of the Chief Justice of India, the contemnors have consciously maintained a blanket shutdown across transit corridors, persisted with unwarranted train cancellations, and failed to issue or publicise advisories,” the plea said.
The Supreme Court will also hear a separate petition challenging the preventive detention of Opposition leaders, including four former chief ministers, and other individuals during Saturday’s protests in Delhi.
With inputs from agencies