Mumbai: Mumbai's monorail, which had halted operations following the coronavirus induced lockdown in the country, started operations today after seven months. The first monorail ran from Chembur to King Circle at 7.30 am today. The monorail was greeted with great enthusiasm by the commuters.
The monorail in Mumbai was closed from March 22 after a lockdown started in the backdrop of the coronavirus.
The monorail administration has taken all sorts of precautions to make the experience safe for everyone. Mechanisms were put in place to check the temperature of passengers as they entered each station.
On the other hand, the monorail administration was keeping the place clean by using sanitizers and other chemicals so that the passengers would not be concerned in any way.
Speaking on the mater, the senior officer of the monorail Rohan Salunkhe said, "All of our staff have been working since the monorail started. All kinds of precautions have been taken by the monorail administration to enable passengers to travel safely. We are very happy that all the passengers have been allowed to travel on the monorail from the very beginning, so we are also very happy about it," said Salunkhe.
The monorail ran from Chembur to King Circle this morning. There was not much response from passengers to the monorail in the morning session. But Salunke expressed confidence that the passengers would increase in the afternoon. "In the meantime, we will provide more facilities to the passengers from tomorrow if necessary," he said.
Meanwhile, the Metro 1 is also set to resume operations from October 19 after being closed for seven months following the pandemic. Metro 1 will start operations at 8.30 am on Monday morning from Versova to Ghatkopar station.
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Metro 1 has been closed since March 22 in wake of the coronavirus induced lockdown. But now the state government has given permission to start metro rail. After receiving the permission, Metro 1 and Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMOPL) are now gearing up with new rules and changes.
The trial run of the metro train, the cleanup and the changes that were to be made to make the metro journey safer during the Corona period began in May.
MMOPL CEO, Abhay Kumar Mishra said, "Every passenger will be screened after entering the metro station. If the passenger has any symptoms, he will not be able to travel on the metro.
Next, you have to travel following the rules of physical distance. That is why only 50 per cent passengers will be admitted in the metro. It will be able to carry 300 passengers at a time. Earlier, the metro was running for 18 hours, from 5.30 am to 11.30 pm. But now it will run for 12 hours from 8.30 am to 8.30 pm. Before the Metro, there were more than 400 rounds. But now the rounds will be up to 200." Earlier, the metro would run every 3 minutes, but now it will run every 6 minutes during rush hour and at other times it will at 8-minute intervals.
