The Maharashtra government and the railway administration are currently considering a proposal to allow all passengers to travel from morning hours till 7 am and after 10 pm in night. Though officials are not ready to comment on the matter, a decision will be taken within a week and travel will be allowed for a limited time from the end of the month.
Although the number of coronavirus patients in Mumbai-Thane district has been steadily declining, general public has not yet been allowed to travel from local trains. Only people working in essential services and women are allowed to travel by train. The authorities are currently working on the proposal to allow general public to travel by local train in phases after vaccination drive starts.
This week we will review the resumption of trains for all; But it will take time to complete. The biggest problem is the lack of crowd management system at railway stations. This makes social distancing difficult, a senior official pointed out.
We have not received any official proposal in this regard. The right decision will be taken only when it arrives, Western Railway officials said. At present, 90 per cent of the total trains are running. It has 1,367 round trips on the Western Railway and 1,774 rounds on the Central Railway. The Railways has not received any proposal from the state government to allow rail travel for all, said Shivaji Sutar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway.