Railway staff at the Tirupati Railway Station are rehearsing social distancing measures that will be implemented once the lockdown is lifted in phases after May 4.
Officials led by Station Director S.N.R. Sarma and Station Manager Rajendra Prasad enacted a demonstration of the social distancing etiquette to be followed by staff while dealing with passengers. Policemen from the GRP and RPF, travelling ticket examiners (TTEs) and other employees were roped in for the demo, who wore masks and walked on the platforms at a distance of one metre from each other.
Little squares were drawn a metre apart at the entrance, meant for arriving passengers to stand in before getting checked by thermal scanners. Similar arrangements have also been made for passengers at the enquiry and ticket counters, where passengers will wait in line in individual squares, and hop from one square to the other as the line moves ahead.
Some of the staff acted as passengers, and policemen on the platform made them follow the queue and social distancing norms to be followed while boarding the train. However, it is not immediately known about how many passengers will be allowed into a compartment, if the one-metre norm has to be adhered to.
