Maharashtra Govt. is considering a proposal to allow the public to travel on local trains during non-peak hours, before 7am and post 10pm.
“We will take a review this week about reopening trains for all, but it will take time before it is done. The biggest problem is the lack of a crowd management system at stations, which makes social distancing very difficult,” a senior official said.
But, however, the city may have to wait for at least two more months before opening local trains for all.
The state also plans to decide on the railway commute and opening of schools and colleges as the Covid-19 cases falling daily over the past two months.
“Although we have not witnessed any spike in cases after Diwali or Christmas, there is a drop in temperature, even in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), over the past few weeks. This will last for the next couple of months. In such a situation, allowing all passengers will be like encouraging spread of the virus. We do not want to take any risk at this juncture, especially after controlling the pandemic over the past few months,” said an official from Mantralaya
As of now, only essential workers and those approved by the government are allowed to travel on locals. Women too have permission, but only during non-peak hours. As a result, the number of services has increased to 1,367 on WR and 1,774 on CR.
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Night Curfew To End Today, Unlikely To Be Extended
According to reports, Maharashtra is also unlikely to extend the night curfew imposed from December 25 to January 5 in view of the new virus strain from the UK. “It has not served the purpose greatly, besides avoiding crowding at public places on the eve of New Year. Night curfew will not help contain the spread, so we have decided not to extend it,” an official said.
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