Local train services in Mumbai to resume for all from Feb 1

Local train services in Mumbairegion will restart for the general public from February 1,Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced on Friday.

The announcement came a few hours after theMaharashtra government proposed to resume the services for allcommuters, Goyal said on Twitter.

Travel by local trains, lifeline for millions ofpeople living in Mumbai and surrounding satellite towns, wasseverely restricted after the coronavirus outbreak in March2020.

''My dear Mumbai citizens, for the convenience of allof you, the Mumbai local train will be started from February1,'' Goyal said.

He informed that for the general public, local trainswill be available in three time slots: from the start of theday's services to 7am; 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm; and 9:00 pm to theend of the day.

As per the instructions of the Maharashtra government,between 7:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm onlythose engaged in essential services will be allowed to travel,the railway minister said.

''I urge all of you to follow all the necessary rulesand guidelines related to Coronavirus during the journey.

Any kind of negligence can become a problem for us and othersas well. If you will be safe, then everyone traveling with youwill be safe,'' Goyal said.

Earlier in the day, the Maharashtra government gaveits nod for the resumption of suburban train services for all.

State Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar asked the ChiefGeneral Managers of Western and Central Railways to allowlocal train commuters to travel as per the laid down schedule,a state government official said.

The services of the local trains were resumed for theemergency and essential services staff in June last year.

Later on, the authorities permitted women to travel inlocals during the non-peak hours.

Before the pandemic struck, the Central Railway wasoperating 1,774 suburban services daily, while the WesternRailway operated 1,367 services.

Currently, the two railway authorities are operating2,985 services, about 95 per cent of the total 3,141 services,on Mumbai's suburban network. Of these, 204 special suburbanservices were added on Friday morning.

The state government said in its circular about localtrains that it will request all establishments tostaggertheir work schedule so that employees can benefit from the newschedule.

The government also directed that shops in Mumbai andthe Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) be allowed to operatetill 11 pm, and restaurants till 1 am.

''Thirty per cent limit for the staff in theseestablishments will continue to be in force and they will beallowed to operate as per the SoPs issued for daily operationsof the same by various departments of the government,'' itsaid.