In a relief for Mumbaikars, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday, January 29, has announced that general public will be allowed to commute in the local trains during non-peak hours from February 1, 2021.
According to reports, travel for the general public will be allowed from the start of the first local train till 7 am. Later, from 12 pm to 4 pm in the afternoon and then post at 9 pm in the night.
The government and railways have already started preparations for crowd control and management at the railway stations. As per sources, commuters would not be allowed to enter the premises without masks. The government also has plans to use police and other staff to prevent crowding.
The decision has been taken after a meeting held in the last week under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The meeting was attended by all the concerned officers of the state government, Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal, Commissioner of Police Parambir Singh, General Manager of Central Railway and Western Railway.
Mumbai's lifeline, the suburban train services are closed for the general public for almost 10 months now. The decision to open the local trains for the general public has been consistently delayed. The COVID-19 situation in Mumbai seems to be under control and the number of cases has also come down. In addition to this, the ongoing vaccination drive has created favourable conditions for public services to be open to all.
Earlier, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar had said that the Mumbai local service will be starting for the general public by February 1.
Meanwhile, in the build-up to the resumption plan, the railways have begun running 204 additional train services from January 29, taking the total number of running train services to 2,985, which is 95 per cent of its total capacity.
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