As the railways have gradually started allowing commuters of various sections to travel in Mumbai suburban trains, Railway Passengers' Associations have now demanded that the state government should allow everyone to commute. They stressed that the general public should now be allowed on railways without using the reason of 'crowding'.
"Apart from coronavirus patients, people from Kalyan, Kasara, Badlapur, and Palghar come to Mumbai hospitals for the treatment of expensive diseases like cancer, tuberculosis, and dialysis. However, patients and relatives cannot afford to travel by road. Therefore, the government should immediately start local trains for all," Shailesh Raut, Publicity Chief of Kalyan-Kasara Railway Passenger Association said in a statement.
The passengers' association said that at present only passengers from 17 groups including lawyers, journalists, state and central government employees, municipal corporation, railways, police, health, cleaning staff are allowed to travel by local, and claimed that that only 10 per cent of the passengers travel on 90 per cent local trips.
Moreover, the government and railways have allowed teachers and non-teaching staff of schools and all women passengers to travel during certain time slots during the day.
President of Railway Passengers Ekta Mahasangh, Nandkumar Deshmukh said that permission to travel, which has been denied for the nine months to the general public, should be started before people run out of patience.
Rising fuel prices, which have touched INR 90/ litre in the city, are making it more difficult and expensive for the common man to travel by road. In addition, due to traffic jams, commuters have to spend hours on the roads to reach their destination.
In November, the government had said that it would soon re-start the local train services for the general public, and a decision will be taken on the matter by Mid-December. However, no announcement has been made so far in this regards.
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