The Maharashtra government has written to the Railways requesting them to resume local train services for everyone, but with separate time slots.
The decision to allow everyone to travel from local trains will be taken in the first week of November.
As per the letter, signed by relief and rehabilitation secretary Kishor Nimbalkar, the state has suggested staggered timings wherein the general public can be allowed to board trains during three non-peak time slots-—from the first local to 7.30am, 11am to 4.30pm and from 8pm till the last train for the day. The remaining time slots can be reserved for those authorized till now.
State govt has also demanded a one ladies special train every hour. Regarding ladies special proposal, a railway official said, “It would mean this service will run empty, implying overcrowding on the train that follows next.”
The railways had recommended to start colour-coded ticketing system to regulate time slots. For example, those who book the 8-9am slot can be issued yellow passes and those with different-coloured passes would not be allowed during that time.