HYDERABAD: On the first day of resumption of Metro services on Monday, Hyderabad Metro witnessed a footfall of just 19,000 passengers. Before the lockdown, Hyderabad Metro would record footfalls of 2.5 to 3 lakh passengers on an average. However, officials believe the footfall will take off in the next few days, when more frequented lines such as Corridor 3 (Nagole to HiTec City) begin in phase 3.
NVS Reddy, MD, HMRL, said, “Around 120 train trips were made on Monday from 7 am to 12 noon and 4 pm to 9 pm on Corridor 1 as against about 800 train trips on all corridors during pre-Covid-19 days. Around 19,000 passengers travelled today, which was on expected lines. Passengers were very happy with the sanitisation measures, maintenance of physical distancing etc., and they mostly behaved responsibly. We will resume operations on Corridor 3 (blue line from Nagole to Raidurg) tomorrow with the same timings and then all the corridors from Sept 9, from 7 am to 9 pm.”
Only a handful of people during the morning and evening office hours opted to take the metro, leaving the stations to witness a fairly deserted look throughout the day. The lack of crowds itself provided enough social distancing, however, it looked like people are still not up for a crowded metro ride yet. Most commuters were spotted wearing masks, and temperature checks were done for all passengers before they entered the station’s premises.
With barely any crowd even at terminal stations like Ameerpet, this might prove to be fatal for L&T MHR, as the private player has lost over `300 crore due to the pandemic. In addition, expenses for the firm are set to rise with expenditures of resuming services, while receiving little revenue.