Queues get longer at some stations, Delhi Metro says due to R-Day security, COVID norms

Very long queues were seen at Patel Chowk and some of the other key Delhi Metro stations on Monday, with DMRC authorities attributing it to security checking ahead of Republic Day and COVID-19 safety norms.

Many commuters took to social media to share photos and videos of serpentine queues outside many stations.

According to a video shared by a commuter, the queue at Patel Chowk snaked its way out of the station premises, and spilled on to the street sides.

''Waiting time at some of the metro stations has increased because of security measures ahead of Republic Day. In addition, COVID-19 prevention measures, such as thermal scanning and temperature checks are already being done at all stations,'' the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a statement.

''We are intimating passengers about average waiting time at stations for their convenience through social media,'' it said.

This is purely a ''temporary phenomenon'' because of the enhanced security measures, and the DMRC seeks cooperation of the passengers so that both security measures as well as COVID protocols can be properly implemented, it added.

Delhi Metro services will be partially curtailed on January 26 due to security arrangements for Republic Day as part of which four stations in the vicinity of Rajpath will down shutters in the morning hours.

The stations are Central Secretariat, Udyog Bhawan, Patel Chowk and Lok Kalyan Marg. In addition to that, all metro parking lots have been closed from 6 am on Monday and will remain shut till 2 pm on January 26, the DMRC said on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)