New Delhi: Delhi Transport minister Kailash Gehlot said the railways will not stop at all metro stations and there are plans to open stations in phases, under the unlock 4 guidelines. All the safety rules will be strictly observed at stations, including social distancing and thermal checking. Hand sanitizer will also be provided.

The Delhi government issued new guidelines on Sunday listed severe restrictions that included ban on tokens for the train journey and limiting the number of passengers in each coach. The government said the use of mask and smart cards has been made mandatory for the Delhi metro resumes services from September 07^th after a five month gap.

Delhi transport minister Kailash Gehlot said that the air-conditioning system will also be renovated to ensure circulation of fresh air inside coaches. “We will renovate the air conditioning system in such a way that ensures that maximum fresh air comes in. We are yet to take a decision about what should be the optimum temperature inside the metro trains,” said the minister. He also said the trains will not stop at all metro stations and there are plans to open stations in phases. All the safety rules will be strictly observed at stations, including social distancing and thermal checking. Hand sanitizer will also be provided.

“The token system will be completely shut because it can increase the spread of Covid-19. Moreover, it won’t be possible to sanitise a token every time. People will use smart cards or other recharge mediums to travel,” he said.  “All stations will not be opened. Those in containment zones will remain shut. Other than those, there are more stations which will remain shut, the list for the same will be prepared and people will be informed about it,” he added.

The announcement came shortly before the country logged more than 78,000 cases the highest single-day spike anywhere in the world — which pushed the total to more than 35 lakh cases. The minister said, “I am very happy that after a very long time, people are getting relief as they will be able to travel by metro”. “Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has repeatedly appealed that to bring the economy back on track, people should start going to their work and business and for this Delhi metro plays an important role,” he added.

Delhi is “ready to live with Covid-19” and it was time to reopen the city, he had said in May, pointing out that in place of the Rs. 3,500-crore revenue every April, the city had made only Rs. 300 crore.