Mumbai's Lifeline, the local train services, were shut down for more than two and a half months, due to the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown. Local trains are used by millions of people in Mumbai on an everyday basis and it is considered as the backbone of the city. After due deliberation, the state government on Monday, June 15, 2020, decided to resume the service once again for essential workers in Mumbai.
As per reports, the number of passengers who use the local train services on Tuesday, June 16 more than that of passengers observed on day 1 (June 15) after the lockdown. Reports state that the crowd was seen at the local stations from 5 AM and as per data received, more than 35,000 passengers travelled on the Central and Western Railway on Monday, whereas more than 60,000 passengers have travelled on Tuesday.
The decision was taken to help more than one and a half lakh essential employees who are serving the community and working during the coronavirus lockdown. Considering this, the 12 coach local trains, which has a capacity of carrying 1500 passengers is being run, but at present, the railways have allowed only 700 passengers to travel in a local train ensuring that the social distancing norms are maintained.
Authorities have also ensured that rules were explained to passengers before the local train services started. However, it is said the due to the increasing number of passengers, violation of rules was observed, on Jun 16. Despite railways announcing a fixed number of passengers, officials saw more number of passengers travelling on Tuesday.
Central Railway has started around 200 local trains for essential employees while the Western Railway has started 162 local services. Apart from Kalyan, Dombivali, Badlapur, Thane, Kurla, Dadar stations, most tickets and passes were being sold at stations like Andheri, Borivali, Virar, Boisar, Nalasopara.
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