New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS): Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday welcomed the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) decision to resume its services for the public in a phased manner in the fourth phase of unlockdown from September 7.

"I am glad that metro has been permitted to start its operations from September 7 in a phased manner," Kejriwal said.

Earlier this month, the Chief Minister had said that Metro services should be resumed on an experimental basis.

In a major development, metro rail has been allowed to operate from September 7 in a graded manner by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"As per the latest guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs under Unlock-4, Delhi Metro will be resuming its services for public from September 7 onwards in a calibrated manner," said Executive Director (Corporate Communications), Anuj Dayal.

The Executive Director added that further details on the functioning of the metro and its usage by the general public will be shared once the detailed standard operating procedure is issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in the next few days.

The Metro services were halted on March 22 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Recently, the DMRC has said that all measures are in place to combat the spread of the virus and efforts will be made to make the travel safe for the passengers.