Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief Mangu Singh on Wednesday said that the Yellow Line of Delhi Metro will start operating from September 7. The Yellow Line of Delhi Metro, which travels between Samaypur Badli and Huda City Centre, will become operational under Unlock 4, nearly five months after it was closed due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. 

Singh said that in phase second, from September 9, three more lines, Blue, Pink, and Gurgaon Line of Delhi Metro will restart.  The Airport Express Line will resume from September 12. However, the metro stations which come under the COVID-19 containment zones will remain closed when the services will restart, said Hardeep Singh Puri, the Minister of Civil Aviation. 

DMRC chief said that the metro will operate from 7 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 8 pm and only selected gates will be open for entry.  The normal operations of metro lines will start from September 12. The DMRC said that a separate gate will be marked only for the exit.

“Only use of Smart Card and cashless/online transactions will be allowed,” said the DMRC. 

Earlier on Wednesday,  Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal approved the decision to resume metro train services in the national capital. L-G Baijal gave his nod during a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) which was also attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other top officials, sources said.

Apart from wearing masks and social distancing, one of the major changes will be in the ticketing system of Delhi Metro when the service resumes. There will be a token system and passengers will have to use smart cards only when the Metro restarts next month.

According to the ministry, Metro trains will not stop at stations where passengers are found not maintaining social distancing. Puri said that wearing face masks will be mandatory during travel on Metro trains and added that masks will be provided to passengers on a payment basis at stations.

Passengers will also have to undergo thermal screening before they are allowed to board the Metro, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had said.