Delhi Metro’s Magenta, Grey lines resume services today after gap of 173 days

Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line and Grey Line resumed operations on Friday after being closed for 173 days due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, officials said.

Services started at 7am as part of the second stage of the graded reopening of Delhi Metro, which was closed on March 22 to check the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“With the people of Delhi-NCR efficiently following our safety guidelines, we have successfully begun operations on the magenta and grey lines today,” the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said, according to news agency ANI.

This is the second stage of the graded manner in which Delhi Metro services are being brought back to operation after being closed for over five months.

In this stage, trains will operate in batches of six-hour each from 7 am to 1 pm and 4-10 pm.

Services on other lines which had opened under stage one from Monday through Thursday would now also follow the stage two schedule.

Prior to this, Yellow line and Rapid Metro were the first ones to be reopened on Monday, followed by Blue line and Pink line resuming services on Wednesday.

Delhi Metro trains were back on track on September 7 after a gap of almost six months. In the fourth phase of unlocking, the ministry of home affairs allowed metro services to begin.

On Thursday, three days after the DMRC resumed its services in a phase-wise manner, the total ridership of Delhi Metro was approximately 47,600 between 7 am to 11 am. Red line, Violet line and Green line were made operational yesterday.

“After resuming services on most of its lines under stage-I of the graded resumption from September 7-10 where services being run for four hours each in the morning and evening, the Delhi Metro will now resume services on its last major corridor, Line-8 i.e, Magenta Line from Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden (37.5 KM/25 stations) tomorrow, (with 26 trains)” the DMRC said in a statement.

Also Line-9 or Grey line from Dwarka to Najafgarh (4.3 KM with three stations) will also be resuming services from Friday with two trains, it said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had recently issued guidelines allowing the Delhi Metro to resume operations in a graded manner, following which the DMRC had said it would be done in three stages from September 7-12.

The train services will follow broadly the same frequency which used to be before lockdown, it said.

Normal timing of services throughout the day from 6 am to 11 pm will become applicable from September 12 onwards. All lines will have resumed services when Airport Express line from New Delhi to Dwarka Sec-21 (22.7 km with six stations) is made operational under stage-III, the last stage under graded resumption plan of metro services, the statement said.

On Sundays (starting from September 20) the services will commence at 8 am from all such sections which had this practice in vogue before the lockdown also. However, on this Sunday-- September 13, the services on these lines will commence at 6 am as per the existing schedule, it added.

Thus, all lines of the Delhi Metro network comprising 349 km and 253 metro stations will be fully operational once again from September 12.

Owing to new norms of social distancing in place now which has significantly reduced the number of persons to be carried in a train, DMRC has also decided to run the peak hour frequency of trains from 8 am to 8 pm, doing away with the concept of off-peak hours from 11 am to 4 pm where services were available with less trains or trips earlier, the statement said.

From start of services till 8 am, it will be available in the range of 3 minutes to 15 min as the trains are gradually inducted from depots to lines.  From 8 am to 8 pm, on all the main stretches of lines, frequency will be in the range of 2 minutes and 45 sec to 6 minutes, the DMRC said.

From 8 pm to close of services, frequency will be in the range of 3 minutes to 15 min as the trains are gradually returning to depots, it said.

(With inputs from PTI)