All 10 metro stations under the two metro networks in Ghaziabad will open for passenger operations from September 9 and 10.
The Ghaziabad district magistrate yesterday (Monday, 7th September) held meetings with station in-charges and went for an inspection of arrangements made by the Delhi metro rail corporation (DMRC).
The Blue line is scheduled to resume passenger operations from September 9 while the Red line is slated to open on September 10.
The Blue line comprises two prominent stations of Vaishali and Kaushambi. The Red line has eight stations viz. Shaheed Nagar, Raj Bagh, Major Mohit Sharma Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, river Hindon and Shaheed Sthal New Bus Adda.
“We held meetings with station in-charges of DMRC on Monday and all 10 stations will open as per schedule. The DMRC officials have requested us for additional deployment of 104 civil defence personnel in two shifts to help in social distancing and to maintain order at stations. Besides, at stations where there is likelihood of heavy rush of passengers, our police personnel will remain deployed,” Pandey said.
“We have also directed the municipal commissioner to clean the space outside all metro stations as they have been shut since March and ensure that all garbage and clutter are removed. We visited the stations and DMRC officials showed how passenger operations will work,” he added.
A DMRC spokesperson said the stations will open for operations as per dates already announced by it. According to the schedule released by DMRC on September 2, Line-3/4 (Blue Line) from Dwarka Sec-21 to Noida Electronic City/Vaishali & Line-7 (Pink Line) from Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar will open for graded operations from September 9.
The trains will run in two shifts from 7am to 11am and 4pm to 8pm. The schedule also said Line-1 (Red Line) from Rithala to Shaheed Sthal New Bus Adda, Line-5 (Green Line) from Kirti Nagar/Inderlok to Brig. Hoshiar Singh (Bahadurgarh) & Line-6 (Violet Line) from Kashmere Gate to Raja Nahar Singh (Ballabhgarh) will resume operations from September 10 with a similar schedule.
The DMRC sources said all passengers arriving at the stations will be screened carefully with the help of infrared thermometers, besides sanitisation of luggage and use of hand sanitisers.
“Trains will not stop at stations in containment zones. Such stations will remain closed for public. Similarly, some of the stations may be skipped if social distancing is not followed by passengers,” the statement had said.
The Vaishali and Kaushambi stations in Ghaziabad connect passengers directly to Rajiv Chowk while the Red line stations connect them to Rithala in Delhi.