SunstarTV Bureau: Mumbai local train services will be opened to the general public in fixed time slots from Monday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s office announced, today.
The trains which was suspended in March last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, will be opened from the first service till 7 am, noon to 4 pm and 9 pm to the last service.
In between these timings, only those in essential services – such as frontline workers and healthcare staff, single women travelers and those with a special pass from the state government – will be allowed to travel.
Women were allowed in October last year, after a request from the state to the Railways Minister.
The authorities also have appealed to all travelers to follow standard operating protocols when in the station or onboard the trains, including wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing to minimise contact with other people.
Earlier this week, railway officials said that an extra 204 special local services would be run on the Mumbai suburban network to balance demand and maintain social distancing.
Including the new services (which begin running from today), the total number of trains now running goes up to 2,985 , said Central Railways. This is around 95 per cent of the 3,141 services being operated by both Central and Western Railways before the pandemic.
