CITY’S LIFELINE MAY SOON OPEN FOR ALL

BMC has been monitoring number of cases and will be reviewing it after two weeks to decide whether the services can resume for all after Feb 15

Mumbai suburban services will operate in full swing only when the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) reviews the COVID-19 cases for the next two weeks, says Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani. Railway officials said that there is a possibility that the services will resume for all without any restrictions af ter Februar y 15 or by the first week of March.

"We are closely monitoring the number of cases since the local trains have resumed from Februar y 1. We will review it af ter two weeks and a final decision will be taken,” clarified Kakani.

Railway officials said they have not received any proposal or request from the state government to resume the services full fledgedly. "Currently, 95 per cent of the local train services are in operation and we will be running the same pattern until further notice from the state government,” said a senior railway officer.

So far, more than 4 crore passengers have travelled on both the Central and Western Railway since Februar y. On an average, 22 lakh passengers were using the services on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the state government is likely to send a proposal to the railway authorities, requesting them to give some relaxation in the time slots. “As far as I know, the state government is likely going to discuss rescheduling the time slots allotted for essential and non-essential staff,” said an official.

Currently, services are permitted during the non-peak hours from the start of the day's services to 7am, 12pm to 4pm, and 9pm to the last local.