Raosaheb Dave, Union Minister of State for Railways, said on Thursday that the local train services in Mumbai will be made available for common people once again if the Maharashtra government submits a proposal to that effect.
“The Ministry of Railways will approve the proposal of allowing common people to travel by local trains in Mumbai. However, we have not received any such communication from the state government so far. The railway administration is not against commencing local train services for common people,” Danve was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Currently, only government employees and those working in essential services are allowed to travel in the suburban train services in the metropolis.
The Mumbai locals were suspended for the general public in April this year due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Several passenger associations have been saying that local trains should be resumed for the general public. The BJP and the MNS have also been mounting pressure on the government to allow at least the fully vaccinated passengers to travel by suburban trains.
Meanwhile, amid the rise in cases of coronavirus, the BMC has also imposed section 144 of The Code Of Criminal Procedure till 11 pm every day and night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am daily.
The state government has further relaxed Covid-19 curbs in 25 districts showing a low positivity rate of the infection, extending the existing business timings of shops and allowing shopping malls to operate in these districts.
However, the state government did not take any decision on allowing common people to travel by suburban trains in the state capital.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said that day that allowing all segments of the society in Mumbai local trains would be difficult “in the first phase” as the easing of curbs is being done slowly.
Before the pandemic, both the Central Railway and Western Railway used to ferry over 75 lakh commuters a day in over 3,000 suburban train services.
Maharashtra on Wednesday registered 6,126 new cases of coronavirus, 7,436 recoveries and 195 deaths. There are 72,810 active cases taking the cumulative toll of cases registered in the state so far to 63,27,194. The recovery rate in the state is at 96.69%, while case fatality is at 2.1%. The death toll stands at 1,33,410.
With agency inputs
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Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/mumbai-local-trains-to-be-made-available-to-people-again-if-rail-minister-11628157489065.html
