On Monday, February 1, the Mumbai locals which had been closed for the general public since March last year due to the outbreak of the coronavirus has resumed operations.
However, even though the state government has fixed specific times for local travel, a large crowd of passengers were reportedly observed at Nalasopara station on the western railway line. On the first day, a large crowd had gathered in front of the ticket window. Although everyone is allowed to travel, the facilities at the railway stations are causing inconvenience to the passengers.
Moreover, the trains will be available in three-time slots: from the start of the day's services to 7 am; 12 noon to 4 pm; and 9 pm to the end of the day. The timing has been restricted to avoid crowding in view of the pandemic. This means the general public will not be permitted to travel between 7 am and 12 noon and between 4 pm and 9 pm, which are considered peak travel hours.
In the past, before COVID-19 struck, Central Railway was operating 1,774 suburban services daily whereas the Western Railway operated 1,367 services. As of now, the two railway authorities are operating 2,985 services, about 95 per cent of the total 3,141 services, on Mumbai's suburban network.
Mumbai locals have been closed since March 24, 2020. Passengers who had earlier issued a one-month, three-month, six-month and year-round local passes had their passes expired in the coronavirus induced lockdown. As the service was closed, the question arose as to whether the passes issued by ordinary passengers would be extended. Passengers' passes were first extended from the month of June as soon as the local for essential service personnel started running. However, commuters whose passes expired during the lockdown period could not get extension due to the non-availability of the local travel will get the pass extended from Monday.
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