Metro restricts size of baggage you can carry
NEW DELHI : The next time you use the metro to get to the airport or a railway station, check the size of your baggage.
For the first time since starting operation 15 years ago, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has decided to put restrictions on the size of the baggage a passenger carries.
DMRC has started putting steel gauges on baggage scanners, to restrict the use of oversized baggage. As per rule, only bags that are 45cm in width and 25cm in height are allowed inside the Metro. The dimension of scanner installed at Metro stations across the Delhi NCR, however, is 60x40 cm, allowing passengers to carry bigger baggage.
The move to restrict bag sizes, however, is not likely to go down well with the airport and station bound traveller as they carry multiple and large size bags.
“To start with, steel barriers have been installed at five stations – Shahdara, Kashmere Gate, Anand Vihar, Chandni Chowk and Barakhamba to see passenger response. It has allowed us to screen the baggage more carefully. Passengers earlier used to pile bags on top of each other, making it difficult to screen. Also, the number of breakdowns has reduced as scanners are not getting damaged by the oversized bags,” said an officer of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
On an average, around 28 lakh passengers use the Delhi Metro and an additional 40,000 use the airport line daily. The size of scanner at airport line is bigger as those coming from airport usually carry large bags. When they enter the normal Metro system, the baggage is not screened again. Those going to airport with large bags, however, are likely to face a problem with the new baggage rule.
“Baggage scanners at five Metro stations across the network have been installed with steel gauge so that only baggage up to permissible limit only can pass. Baggage of the size of 60 x 45x 25 cms is permitted to pass through the scanners, as per DMRC rules. On many occasions, over sized baggage cause damage to the scanners and also cause inconvenience to other passengers inside the Metro train,” said a DMRC spokesperson.
Over 200 baggage scanners are operational across the entire Delhi Metro network.