Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) is just four days ahead of resuming the operations of the metro rails in the city, which were suspended for the past five months as the sequel of the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown. As per the guidelines of the Union Home Ministry and Tamil Nadu government in unlocking the lockdown, the metro rail services across the nation have permitted to resume its operations from September 7.

The resumption of the metro rail services has been considered as one of the significant relaxations announced by the government to pull out the state from the lockdown and restore normalcy amid the COVID-19 spread. To have a proper and vigil resumption, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited has, on Thursday, released guidelines and protocols for the passengers. The following are the guidelines that one must know before boarding the metro trains in Chennai from September 7.

According to the fresh guidelines, the Metro rail services in Chennai will be operational from 8 am to 8 pm initially and the timings will be gradually increased. The CMRL said that the trains running on the Blue line - Chennai Airport to Washermanpet will be resuming its services from September 7 whereas the trains running on the Green line - Central Metro station to St.Thomas Mount will be resuming its operations from September 9. 

• Passengers will be screened at the entrance of the stations and those with high temperature and symptomatic people will not be permitted to board the metro trains. 
• Stations will be allowing the passengers through only two entrances for the initial phase and hand sanitizers will be installed at all the stations for the use of the passengers. 
• Only two to three passengers are allowed to use the elevators at the same time in the stations and priority of using the elevators would be given for the elderly and people with physical disabilities. 
• Passengers are mandated to wear facemasks in the trains and at the stations and the guidelines have instructed the passengers to stand on alternate steps on the escalators. 
• Seats and station platforms will be marked with the 'X' signage to let the passengers know their sitting and standing points to ensure that there is a space for social distancing in the trains and at the stations. 
• Passengers will be encouraged to use smart cards and online QR codes to pay the ticket fares and the journey tokens will be available and will be sanitized. 
• Food points and shops at the metro stations will be allowed to function from September 7 and the guidelines have encouraged the passengers to use the Arogya Setu App while entering the stations. 
• Officials will be surveilling and monitoring the physical distancing through the CCTV cameras in the stations and inside the trains. 
• Frequently used places, spots, and things by passengers like handrails of escalators, buttons of the elevators, restrooms at the stations will be disinfected and sanitized at regular intervals. 
• Air- Conditioning in trains and stations shall be operated as per the norms prescribed by the Central Public Works Department. 
• Metro trains will be stopped by 50 seconds at each station to ensure passenger movement with physical distancing and adequate air circulation. Earlier, the trains will be stopped by 20 seconds. 

According to the guidelines, the trains will be running with a gap of five minutes during the peak hours - 8.30 am to 10.30 am and 5 pm to 8 pm, while during the non-peak hours, the trains will be running with a gap of ten minutes.