Chennai Metro Rail will change the frequency of its trains, and there will now be a train every seven minutes throughout the day from March 23 to March 31 . Also, commuters will get direct train from Chennai Central to St. Thomas Mount every 14 minutes. Currently, Chennai Metro has been running trains every five minutes during peak hours.
Chennai Metro Rail has also begun cleaning trains at Chennai Airport and Chennai Central Metro Rail stations after every trip on Friday, as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Every day, Chennai Metro Rail operates over 500 trips across the 45 km network touching 32 stations at various locations. Now, since these two are terminal stations and passengers coming from various parts of the country will use them, the trains are cleaned after every trip.
CMRL has already started screening passengers at Chennai airport for the last few days.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), they have already been cleaning stations with chemicals for some time now; hand rails, lifts, ticket vending machines, entry/exit gates are monitored and cleaned at periodic intervals throughout the day. Washrooms in all 32 stations are cleaned every hour and sanitisers are provided at concourse levels and now, will be placed at the platforms too, so that passengers can use them as soon as they get off the train, officials said.
“This apart we have been fumigating stations too at the depot at regular intervals. Now, as part of intensive cleaning, we are spraying disinfectant inside the trains at Chennai Airport and Chennai Central stations after every trip. The staff have been given masks and hand sanitisers. If a passenger has any issue, they can always reach out to us too,” an official said.
On Friday, along with the Health Department, CMRL distributed hand sanitation and preventive awareness pamphlets.
