Noida, November 10: The Noida-Greater Noida Metro witnessed its highest single-day ridership on Monday since resuming services in September after the COVID-19 lockdown, officials said on Tuesday.
Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) Director Ritu Maheshwari said all necessary measures are being taken to ensure a safe journey for commuters. Also Read | Gujarat Bypoll Results 2020: BJP Wins All 8 Seats, Official Announcement Awaited.
The Aqua Line, which had shut operations for five months since March due to the pandemic, had 7,176 passengers on Monday, the NMRC)said in a statement. According to Maheshwari, the metro service recorded a rise of approximately 12 times in ridership since resuming operations on September 7. Also Read | Bihar Election Results 2020: AIMIM Played Spoiler by Cutting Votes, ‘Owaisi Used by BJP’, Says Congress.
“The services on the Aqua Line were resumed after almost five months of lockdown on September 7, 2020 with partial services. The NMRC had ensured all precautions necessary for prevention of spread of the COVID-19 virus before resuming services,” she said.
“The first day of operations had recorded a ridership of 600 passengers. On September 12, 2020, the NMRC had resumed full fledged operations on the Aqua Line and had recorded a ridership of 2,148 passengers. Since then, the ridership of the NMRC has seen a steady rise,” she added.
Maheshwari said the rise can be attributed to the fact that “passengers have faith” in the safety standards of the NMRC and consider the Aqua Line as a “safe and secure” mode of public transport during the pandemic.
The NMRC trains are also fully sanitised after each trip. The stations, platform and other “contact areas” like call buttons of lifts, AFC gates, handle belts of escalators and staircases, POS machines etc. are also sanitised at regular intervals, she said.
Maheshwari said the NMRC staff has been deployed at the station to ensure that passengers follow the government guidelines of wearing face masks and maintaining social distance on metro premises.
“Only the passengers with face masks are allowed inside the stations and every passenger is screened for temperature with thermal sensors. To ensure adequate social distance, markings for standing the passengers have been made at one metre spacing at frisking zones, ticket counters and platforms,” she added.
She said the NMRC is encouraging passengers to opt for contact-less smart cards or QR-code based mobile app as ticketing options to minimise human contact although the paper-ticket is also available.
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