Hyderabad: Hyderabad Metro Rail services resumed operations on the Miyapur-LB Nagar route on Monday after a gap of over five months following the COVID-19 guidelines.
Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) and L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited authorities said metro train services between Corridor 1(Miyapur to LB Nagar) has started while metro operations will be resumed in graded manner on other routes.
"We are happy that we were permitted to resume the metro rail services. We are taking all precautions and are strictly following the COVID-19 guidelines to prevent spreading of the virus in Metro travel," HMRL Managing Director NVS Reddy told P T I.
Ordinary people were facing a lot of problems in reaching their places of work or destination in the absence of public transport, Reddy said.
Services are being operated from 7 am to noon and 4 pm to 9 pm, he said.
Wearing of a face mask is mandatory for all passengers and staff.
Metro Rail has made arrangements for supply of masks on payment basis to people arriving without mask.
Suitable penalty as per regulation shall be imposed for any violation, the officials said.
Smart Card and Mobile QR tickets with cashless/online transactions were encouraged for the safety of passengers.
In order to ensure social distancing, suitable markings at stations and inside trains were done for passengers to stand, the officials said.
Only asymptomatic persons will be allowed to travel after thermal screening at entry into the stations.
Proper PPE kits and sanitisers have been provided to employees/ security personnel.
Considering the potential of coronavirus to spread quickly, security personnel/ private guards have been instructed to ensure adequate safety while frisking commuters without diluting security drills, they said.
In Phase-II, fromSeptember 8 onwards services will commence on Corridor 3 (Nagole to Raidurg) while in Phase-III fromSeptember 9 onwards all the three Corridors (C1, C2 and C3) would be made operational, the officials said.
Frequency of trains will be around five minutes and it will be increased or decreased based on passenger traffic and to avoid crowding, they said adding stations in containment zones have been closed.
The total operational length of the elevated Hyderabad Metro Rail project is 69 km.
