New Delhi: The Railways will expand its suburban services in Mumbai from Wednesday and run 350 trains each in the Central and Western Railway Zones, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.
The trains will, however, only carry essential services personnel identified by the Maharashtra government. Local trains, the lifeline of the country's financial
capital were suspended on March 23 due to nationwide lockdown to contain coronavirus spread.
Railways to expand to 350 local trains in Mumbai from tomorrow. As identified by State govt., essential staff incl. employees of Centre, IT, GST, Customs, Postal, Nationalised Banks, MBPT (Mumbai Port Trust), Judiciary, Defence & Raj Bhavan allowed. No services yet for general passengers," Goyal tweeted.
-
Railways to expand to 350 local trains in Mumbai from tomorrow.
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) June 30, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
As identified by State govt., essential staff incl. employees of Centre, IT, GST, Customs, Postal, Nationalised Banks, MBPT, Judiciary, Defence & Raj Bhavan allowed. No services yet for general passengers. pic.twitter.com/QtegX16bLE
">Railways to expand to 350 local trains in Mumbai from tomorrow.
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) June 30, 2020
As identified by State govt., essential staff incl. employees of Centre, IT, GST, Customs, Postal, Nationalised Banks, MBPT, Judiciary, Defence & Raj Bhavan allowed. No services yet for general passengers. pic.twitter.com/QtegX16bLERailways to expand to 350 local trains in Mumbai from tomorrow.
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) June 30, 2020
As identified by State govt., essential staff incl. employees of Centre, IT, GST, Customs, Postal, Nationalised Banks, MBPT, Judiciary, Defence & Raj Bhavan allowed. No services yet for general passengers. pic.twitter.com/QtegX16bLE
Both the railway zones that cater to Mumbai had resumed their select suburban services for essential staff from June 15.
In the Mumbai Division of Central Railways, presently 200 trains are being run and 150 will be added from Wednesday, taking the total to 350. Western Railways is presently running 202 services and 148 will be added from Wednesday. These trains will halt at major stations (where fast locals halt). On the harbour line too the trains will halt at major stations only.
Read: 80% occupancy in Special trains, earning 20 crore per day: Railways
In normal times, the CR and WR ran more than 3,000 services in Mumbai daily, carrying around 70 lakh passengers. After receiving a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs about allowing Central government department staff and bank employees to travel on suburban locals on June 27, the railway authorities had a meeting with state officials on Monday.
As of Tuesday, the CR was operating 200 suburban services -- 130 on the mainline between CSMT-Karjat/ Kasara and 70 on the Harbour line between CSMT-Panvel.
"The number of services may be modified as per the the requirement to ensure social distancing norms," a joint release of CR and WR said. Western Railway on Monday added 40 suburban services, taking the total number to 202.
Read: New normal in AC trains, breathe in OT like fresh air
The railway release also made it clear that suburban services will not be for the general public. "The state government has been urged to ensure all those allowed to travel are allowed only after ensuring that they are medically fit and do not come from a containment zone," the release stated.
To ensure social distancing, every train will carry only 700 passengers against the capacity of 1,200. "Entry will be given at stations strictly through ID cards of essential staff, as identified by the State Government. Later on, the staff will be issued QR based E- passes which will also bear colour coding to enable swifter ticket checking," the railway release stated.
(With inputs from PTI)
Also Read: Big relief to train passengers as Tatkal ticket bookings resume
