Metro GM inspects stations

Accompanied by senior officers, the general manager inspected markings inside the coaches which will help Metro commuters maintain social distancing inside the coaches and also interacted with the staff at different stations, Banerjee said. The Metro authorities have decided to allow a maximum 400 passengers in a train at a time and colour-coded e-passes will be dispensed to the commuters through a link in their mobile phones to maintain the number.

Metro Railway general manager Manoj Joshi on Wednesday inspected for the second time several stations in the network prior to resumption of services of the city's rapid transit system, an official said here. Joshi inspected the stations between Park Street and Kavi Subhash on Wednesday in the southern part of the city, a day after he visited all stations in the north between Park Street and Noapara, the official said.

The Metro authorities have decided to run special services on September 13, five and half months after it stopped services owing to Covid lockdown from the last week of March, for NEET aspirants and their guardians. Joshi had earlier said that the final date for resumption of regular Metro services will be fixed shortly.

The Metro Railway on Wednesday also issued a set of do's and don'ts for passengers when they travel by its trains after the services are resumed, for maintaining Covid-19 safety norms. During his inspection spread over the two days, the general manager inspected the entry and exit gates of all the stations, Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said.

Joshi inspected the markings inside the Metro premises which will help Metro commuters maintain social distancing and also checked the sanitiser dispensing machines at the stations, she said. Accompanied by senior officers, the general manager inspected markings inside the coaches which will help Metro commuters maintain social distancing inside the coaches and also interacted with the staff at different stations, Banerjee said.

The Metro authorities have decided to allow a maximum 400 passengers in a train at a time and colour-coded e-passes will be dispensed to the commuters through a link in their mobile phones to maintain the number. In a standard operating procedure (SOP) fixed for the resumption of services, the Metro authorities have decided that all stations will be sanitised thoroughly before the introduction of commercial services, while high contact surfaces like washrooms, walls, elevator buttons, etc, will be frequently cleaned.

"Stations falling in containment zones shall be closed," the SOP said, adding that the trains will run between 8 am and 8 pm and the last train will leave the originating station at 7 pm from both ends. For undertaking thorough cleaning and sanitisation of stations, Metro services will not be operated on Sundays, it said.

Stoppage time will be increased to 30 seconds from the present 20 seconds to avoid rush, the SOP said. Thorough sanitisation of rakes will be undertaken every day in the carsheds during non-revenue hours, it said.

The SOP said that passengers will be able to book their journey slot with one hour duration by accessing URL pathadisha.com/metro. "On successful booking of slots, passengers will receive e-pass on their mobile phone with information of time slot, passenger name, originating and destination stations," it said.

Entry to metro stations will be allowed only through verification of the e-pass by state police, while RPF personnel at stations will maintain close coordination with the state police, it said. Tokens will not be issued to passengers and only smart card holders will be allowed, it said.

The SOP also said that only three passengers will be allowed in lifts at stations at a time. It said that passengers will not occupy the seats in the coaches which are marked X.

The Metro Railway asked the passengers to download the Arogya Setu App on their smartphones. The Metro authorities said that passengers having symptoms of fever, cough or cold should not undertake a journey in its trains.

It said that "elders and children should not undertake a Metro journey." As per the Unlock 4 guideline of the Union Home Ministry, Metro railway services in cities have been allowed to resume from September 7 in a graded manner. The West Bengal government had written to the Railway Board seeking resumption of Metro and suburban train services in a limited manner maintaining the norms of physical distancing and health and hygiene protocols.