Mumbai: Local trains to operate from today for people in essential services

Mumbai : A section of local trains will become operational from today for people who are in the essential services amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Western Railway tweeted. It mentioned that general passengers are not allowed in the trains so it is advised not to crowd the railway stations.

"Western Railway have decided to resume their selected suburban services over WR w.e.f. Monday, 15th June, 2020 with defined protocol & SOP, only for movement of essential staff as identified by the State Government," the railways tweeted.

The train services will be operational from 5:30 am to 11:30 pm in an interval of 15 minutes. "Maximum services will run between Churchgate and Virar, but few will also run up to Dahanu Road," the railways said.

It is believed that almost 1.25 lakh people who are engaged in essential services will commute through trains. Those who have season passes to travel in local trains can use them even if they have expired as their validity has been extended equivalent to the number of travel days lost due to the lockdown.

People will be asked to produce their ID cards to confirm that they are involved in essential services.

To allow social distancing, a train that can carry 1,200 passengers will take only 700. The railways has asked the state government to stagger the office timings of their employees to ensure there is no crowding at the stations.

Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases in India. It reported a total of 1,04,568 cases till Sunday night.