In the wake of the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, all metro rail services in the country will continue to remain suspended until further notice. DS Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs stated that after today’s announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to extend the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, all metro rail services will continue to remain suspended till May 3, 2020. All metro rail services in India, were suspended during the 21-day lockdown, which has now been extended to May 3.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had suspended train services across the network to prevent the outbreak and only its internal maintenance operations were going on. A DMRC spokesperson said that passenger services will continue to remain closed and all further updates regarding the resumption of services will be issued by the authorities separately. The senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation officials and management staff, including Dr Mangu Singh, Managing Director, DMRC, have resumed work from office, starting from April 13, 2020.
Delhi Metro’s team of architects as well as designers are regularly coordinating with the site personnel, contractors and design consultants for finalising all the designs for ensuring the construction of Delhi Metro Phase 4 project. Online conferences, meetings and webinars are being conducted amongst other employees and staff members to ensure the smooth work flow of the project. The manpower deployment at sites, procurement orders by contractors, design submission are being dealt with at this stage, so that things are ironed out once the construction starts.
Meanwhile, all the terminal Delhi Metro stations, the depot entry and exit stations as well as the Delhi Metro interchange stations àre being manned by DMRC staff to keep the network in good shape. The CISF officials deployed at Delhi Metro stations are also monitoring the CCTV footage to report any strange activity. The functionality of the signalling system and the OHE of the network is also being checked regularly by technicians and engineers to ensure the general health of the operations. The power supply at the metro stations has been kept for the CISF staff, officials and the housekeeping members for lighting only the important areas, such as galleries, offices, and for running the water pumps of metro stations.