Post Covid-19, revenue services in Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) resumed on 07th September 2020 as per the guidelines of the Government. Amongst several safety measures, CMRL has taken up the sanitization of Rolling Stock and Stations on Top Priority and various sanitization chemicals were used extensively CMRL is the first Indian Metro to venture into micro-plasma oxidation system to produce aqueous stabilized ozone on demand to avoid exposure of harsh chemicals during sanitization. It is a clean, safe and sustainable water disinfectant. This technology is currently used in high-end defence and medical applications.
- ETA Purification’s Micro-Plasma Oxidation system use surrounding air that is Chemical – free as its raw material and it leaves no harmful residues.
- CMRL in association with ETA Purification have designed and developed a system to use the above technology to disinfect Rolling Stock and Stations.
- The produced aqueous-based disinfecting agent is approximately 10-1000 times more effective than other chemicals against bacteria, mold and viruses.
- The sanitation process can be completed in just a few minutes.
- It is 51% more powerful on bacteria cell walls than chlorine and kills bacteria 3000 times faster.
- Unlike chlorine, it is non-toxic and produces no disinfection by-products.
- This system uses only ordinary water as input and no chemicals are added.
The following are the benefits of Micro Plasma Oxidation:
- Bactericidal: Highly effective, reduces endotoxins and destroys algae
- Virucidal: Broad spectrum coverage of all known water-borne viruses and other pathogens
- Avoids storage and handling of hazardous chemicals
- Lower O&M cost
- Produced on-site on demand
- Environment friendly
Ridership:
The Chennai Metro Rail services resumed in a graded manner in the Blue Line between Airport to Washermenpet from 07-09-2020 and Green Line between St. Thomas Mount and Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M. G. Ramachandran Central Metro via Koyambedu on 09-09-2020.
- A total of 3,60,193 passengers have travelled in the Metro Train from 07.09.2020 to 30.09.2020.
- On 30.09.2020 a total of 22,065 passengers have used the Metro Train to commute.
- A total of 13,044 passengers have utilised the recently launched QR code ticketing system.
- While 70,009 passengers have used Travel Card Ticketing System.
- CMRL offers a 20% discount on QR Code ticketing namely Single Journey Q.R Ticket, Return Journey Q.R Ticket, Group Q.R Ticket and Q.R Trip passes from 11-09-2020. 10% discount is already available for passengers using Travel Cards
- All the Entrance gates at all Metro Stations have been opened for Public use considering the convenience and welfare of Public and Chennai Metro Rail Passengers.
- Also, all the facilities inside the Metro Stations such as Lifts, Escalators and Subways connecting the Entrance of Metro Stations are also being opened to benefit the Public and Metro Rail Passengers.
- CMRL requests all its passengers to co-operate with CMRL security, Ticketing and other staff for a safe and smooth travel in its effort to prevent the spread of Covid-19 by maintaining social distancing.
Source: CMRL-Press Release
