Hyderabad (Metro Rail News): On Tuesday, L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Limited (L&TMRH) became the first metro rail in India to use ozone to sanitise its train coaches. It introduced three portable Ozycare Mobizone units to sanitise coaches and instil confidence in passengers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ozone sanitisation of air and surfaces is extensively used in hospitals, healthcare, food processing plants, and for water disinfection. According to an official announcement, these units were launched following months of rigorous testing on several metro coaches, followed by testing the efficacy of the sanitisation by a NABL-accredited lab.
L&T MRH CEO and managing director K.V.B. Reddy stated, “These units are robust enough to neutralise more than 99% of pathogens both from the surface and air within the train coaches. We hope this would infuse a sense of confidence among passengers, making them choose the metro as their preferred mode of city commute during the ongoing pandemic.”
As per the sanitisation protocol of this machine, the ozone cycle lasts for less than 10 minutes, followed by an ozone destruction cycle that ensures post sanitisation safety as per Occupational Safety and Health Administration norms. During this period, this machine sanitises the entire coach.
The Ozycare Mobizone units are currently being utilised to clean metro coaches at metro depots. These machines supplement the standard, thorough manual sanitisation that takes place throughout the metro system and even reaches gaps and hard-to-reach crevices, he explained.
As per the press release, the sanitation is safe, and the Hyderabad Metro Rail has already implemented COVID-19 safety standards through careful monitoring and adherence to the guidelines. However, passengers must always wear masks, focus on social separation, and undergo compulsory thermal scanning before entering the metro station.
