New Delhi: It has been almost two months since the Capital got back an integral part of its public transport network in the form of Delhi Metro resuming operations. While initially, it saw a sparse passenger footfall, the train service is now functioning in full swing with an average line utilisation across the 10 corridors pegged at around 12,24,848 in the month of October, according to the data compiled by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
Significantly, the average line utilisation of all the corridors in September added to only half of what it was last month at 6,19,242. The 389-kms network was thrown open to commuters on September 7 after a Covid-19-induced hiatus of more than six months.
Line utilisation is defined as the number of journeys completed from origin to destination across lines.
While DMRC has put in place several safety protocols in order to curb the spread of the virus at Metro stations and inside compartments, it started observing full capacity on some corridors as per post-Covid standards during peak hours, following which it directed commuters to "break the peak" or stagger their travel in order to maintain social
distancing.
Similarly, when it comes to the number of smart cards being sold, in September approximately 11,000 such cards were sold per day while around 17,000 smart cards were purchased by passengers on a daily basis in the month of October, as per DMRC.
In order to limit physical contact, the Delhi Metro had done away with the system of providing tokens to passengers with smart cards recharged through online transactions being the only available option.
Meanwhile, the total number of challans issued by civil volunteers and flying squads to commuters for committing Covid-19 violations on stations and inside trains have been recorded at 10,825 as of October 31. Such fines are levied under Section 59 of The Delhi Metro Railways (Operation & Maintenance) Act.
It might be noted that several such personnel have been deputed across stations and have been directed to identify and issue fines to commuters for not wearing a mask and breaching social distancing protocols among other violations.
Commenting on the rising passenger footfall, a senior Metro official told Millennium Post, "The spike in line utilisation numbers does not imply that things are becoming unmanageable, however, they do show that all the corridors are being used at the maximum capacity. Things are largely under control as of now and while there are instances where trains had to skip stations owing to large crowds, operations have not been hindered as a result of that," he said.
On the front of Covid protocol violations, the official said that up to now, "most number of fines have been where people are seen not wearing a mask".
"We issue them a challan of Rs 200 under the relevant provisions of the Delhi Metro after counseling them," he said.