Amidst the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the suburban train system has suffered losses of ₹850 crores as a result of the suspension of the services and the subsequent restrictions on people commuting on the trains.
As per reports, the losses of Western Railways (WR) are pegged at ₹415 crores while that of Central Railways (CR) are ₹435 crores. Both the railways used to run more than 3,000 services in a day before the outbreak of the coronavirus. However, since the month of March, the railways shut down operations for nearly 70 days till the end of May. Post the guidelines authorized by the Centre and state, however, the train services resumed operations only for the people engaged in essential services.
Meanwhile, according to a press release, the Central Railways is to include 8 more services including two ladies’ special trains from October 1. Earlier 423 services were operational. This decision was taken keeping in view the pandemic in a bid to maintain social distancing.
According to sources, before the lockdown, 1,200 people could travel easily in a Mumbai local but now as per state norms, only 600-700 people are allowed on each train. This may be one of the reasons why Railways may not be able to achieve operational efficiency as well that are suffering losses as a result.
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