General Public may be allowed to commute in local trains from February

Mumbai's lifeline, the suburban train services that are closed for the general public for almost 10 months now. It is expected to resume soon for all.

According to the latest reports, discussions are underway at various levels and the movement has gained momentum after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray convened a meeting to start local train services for all. The state government is evaluating a proposal to resume normal local train services for the general public by February 15, said sources.

If sources are to believed, preparations for crowd control and management have already been started. They also stated that commuters would not be allowed without masks. The government also has plans to use police and other staff to prevent crowding.

Besides, on Thursday, January 28, Mumbai’s guardian minister Aslam Shaikh also confirmed the plan to resume local services for the general public in February.

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.

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.

On June 15, suburban train services first resumed for essential service providers, with the government issuing identity cards for them. By the end of October, it also permitted working women to commute for certain hours of the day via local trains.