Delhi Metro Is Running Again: Here's What Day 1 Looked Like

The Delhi metro resumed services on Monday, more than five months after it was shut down because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The services started on the day that India overtook Brazil  to become the country with the second highest number of Covid cases in the world. 

Perhaps because of safety fears, there were few people using the metro services in the first half of the day. 

PTI reported that Rajiv Chowk metro station, one of the busiest in the city had a noticeably thin crowd. The station serves as an interchange facility between the Yellow Line and the Blue Line.

Earlier, it mostly used to be packed with people jostling for space and vying to enter or exit train coaches.

An Expert On How To Travel Safely In The Delhi Metro

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed happiness at the restarting of services, but warned people not to let down their guard. Covid-19 cases in the city have been peaking again in September, with the city recording more than 3,200 cases on Saturday.

Passengers who availed the metro services were sceptical, but said they had no other choice. 

Sumitra Devi, a government employee, who works at Connaught Place adjoining the Rajiv Chowk metro station, told PTI, “Of course, I was quite sceptical but then if not today, we will have to eventually take metro rides. How long can we avoid it? I hardly saw less than 10 passengers in my compartment but it was smooth.”

Metro stations have been equipped with automatic sanitiser dispensers and passengers have to follow strict social distancing rules. 

Now, people can only charge smart cards with online payments. 

A number of people who travelled on the Delhi Metro, PTI reported, faced problems buying new smart cards or getting them recharged through cashless modes due to network issues.

 At many stations, including Central Secretariat, Chawri Bazar, and Chandni Chowk, passengers said there were hiccups while making online payments.

Such issues were being reported mostly from underground metro stations, the PTI report said. 

Photos from several metro stations showed that there were barely people, and those who were use the services were all in masks, and sat distanced from each other. 

Here are some photos from Monday: