BENGALURU: The Metro is ready to start operations from September 7 and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited will write immediately to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) seeking its approval, said BMRCL Managing Director Ajay Seth on Saturday.
Seth told The New Sunday Express, “BMRCL is keen to start operations and with Unlock 4.0 guidelines, MoHUA has created a window. We will approach the ministry, seeking permission to start the services in accordance with its guidance and SOP to be prescribed.” Thermal scanners have been readied to check the temperature of passengers at the entrance of stations and stickers have been put up in all trains and its 40 stations to mark the space to be maintained by passengers while waiting for trains or travelling, a senior official said.
BMRCL also announced that only travel cards will be allowed to travel on trains, and recommended that passengers download the Aarogya Setu app. It will strictly allow only 300 to 350 passengers per train, instead of 1,800 commuters who could travel before March 22, officials said. Before the onset of the pandemic, BMRCL saw a daily average ridership of 4.5 lakh commuters on both its Green and Purple lines on workdays with the figure dipping during the weekends.