Although the Tamil Nadu government is yet to announce the resumption of the metro rail services in Chennai, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has been preparing to kickstart the regular passenger operations in the city by installing preventive measures and protocols for the commuters. 

Metro rail has become one of the major transportation channels within the city and it has been suspended for the past two months in the wake of the lockdown. As the state has been witnessing relaxations in some of the areas amid the fourth extension of the lockdown, the CMRL has been getting ready to operate the metro trains if the government permits for the resumption after the current spell of the lockdown which ends by May 31st. 

According to the reports, the CMRL has been initiating adequate and mandated steps to have a safe and secure resumption towards ensuring the service would not provide grounds of the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

As part of the preventive measures, the authorities have been pasting the warning stickers and marking the signages on the platforms, stations, and inside the train so that the passengers can maintain a gap to adhere to the social distancing norms.

The CMRL would be instructing the passengers to use the smart cards in place of the tokens. The commuters would be directed to follow the rules in the stations including refraining from touching the railings of the escalators and maintaining social distancing while in the elevators and trains. The passengers arriving in the stations would strictly undergo screening and they will be provided with hand sanitizers and the commuters are mandated to wear masks while traveling.

Unlike the usual capacity, the metro trains will have restrictions on the seating and the trains would be carrying minimal passengers after the resumption to reduce congestion among them. The reports further stated that the train, which can ferry 1,270 passengers, will now be carrying only 160 passengers, nearly one-tenth of its usual capacity with the view of maintaining social distancing norms.

Currently, CMRL operates 35 trains connecting suburban and urban destinations and these trains are ferrying about 60% of the total passengers during morning and evening peak hours. The drastic reduction in its capacity would, in turn, affect its revenue which would lead to an increase in the ticket fares while the existing fares are a little higher than the rest of the metro services operated in India. As of now, the government hasn't shown any signal to the resumption of metro and suburban trains in the city in the wake of the rampant spread of COVID-19.