Sunday morning has brought a big relief news for the daily commuters of the national capital Delhi and the entire NCR region. All stringent restrictions imposed on Delhi Metro and Railway services in view of security reasons, strict law and order arrangements and proposed protests have now been officially lifted. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has made a formal announcement confirming that the entry and exit gates of all the affected stations across the network have been fully opened for passengers. Along with this, Indian Railways has also restored its suspended and changed train services as per the regular time table. Lakhs of working people, businessmen, students and common travelers, who have been facing serious transportation problems for the last few days, have heaved a sigh of relief after the lifting of these restrictions. After the heavy traffic jam on the roads of Delhi, now with the normalization of metro and rail network, the pace of the capital has increased again. Rajiv Chowk to Kashmiri Gate: Line changing facilities operational at all major interchange stations The biggest blow during the safety restrictions was faced by lakhs of daily commuters who depend on interchange facilities to travel on different corridors. According to DMRC's latest service update, services have been normalized at all major and busy interchange stations including New Delhi, Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk, Mandi House and Kashmere Gate. During the restrictions, trains were being passed without stopping at many stations on the instructions of security agencies and there was a complete ban on exit or entry of passengers. Now the movement of passengers between Yellow Line, Blue Line, Violet Line, Red Line and Airport Express Line has become completely easy. Passengers can now change trains from one line to another without any interruption. Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates and security check posts of metro stations have been opened with full capacity as soon as the green signal was received after review of the situation by the security agencies. Restrictions imposed on more than 45 stations lifted: Big decision taken after security review Due to major protests and security alerts by the opposition and various organizations, on the recommendation of Delhi Police, DMRC had temporarily closed the entry and exit gates of more than 45 sensitive metro stations as a precautionary measure. Lutyens' Delhi, areas around New Delhi Railway Station and Central Delhi were particularly under these security restrictions. Due to this, people traveling to and from the markets of Connaught Place, Janpath, ITO and Old Delhi had to walk a lot and faced a lot of inconvenience. The law and order situation in the capital was found to be under control in a high-level review meeting held late Saturday night between security agencies, Delhi Police and Metro management. After this, the shutters of all the stations were raised in a phased manner and the first metro train left for its destination on Sunday morning at its scheduled time. Indian Railways also gave green signal: All trains will run on pre-determined schedule. Along with metro services, Indian Railways has also provided great convenience to the passengers. In a statement issued by the Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railway, it has been clarified that due to security restrictions, all the trains which were partially cancelled, short-terminated or whose routes were changed, are now being operated as per their regular time-table. The operation of all long distance Mail, Express and Vande Bharat trains running from New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS), Old Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin and Anand Vihar Terminal has become smooth. Apart from this, EMU and passenger trains running between suburban cities adjacent to Delhi like Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurugram, Sonipat and Panipat have also been put on the tracks, which has provided great convenience to the daily wage earners and employees who come to Delhi daily to work. Important advice for passengers: Keep getting information from official channels. Passengers, although all the services have become normal, still the Delhi Metro and Railway administration has appealed to the passengers to be cautious and follow the rules while traveling. In view of the huge crowd of passengers at the stations, additional personnel of CISF and Railway Protection Force (RPF) have been kept on standby so that long queues are not formed during security checking and any kind of chaos can be avoided. DMRC has advised passengers not to pay attention to any kind of rumor and for any immediate travel related information, rely only on the live updates released on Delhi Metro's official mobile app 'DMRC Saarthi' and social media handles. Lakhs of passengers have heaved a sigh of relief as the transport system is back on track just before the first working day of the week.
