MUMBAI, Jan 29: The Maharashtra government has decided to open the services of the Mumbai suburban trains for general public also from February 1 but not in the rush hours to manage the crowds.
The general public will be allowed to board the local trains only during the restricted hours, from the start of the trains till 7 A.M., from 12 P.M. to 4 P.M and from 9 P.M. till the trains run. In the rush hours between 7 A.M. to 12 noon and 4 P.M. to 9 P.M. the train services will continue to remain restricted only for essential workers.
After the Coronavirus-induced lockdown in March, the Mumbai suburban trains have been running on track since June last year but only for the essential workers.
The state government has also asked offices to schedule staggered working hours to make services available for the staff as well as to avoid overcrowding.
The shops and restaurants in Mumbai have also been allowed to operate from 11 pm to 1am, however with a limit of 30 per cent on the staff.
The authorities have also requested the public to strictly stick to the SOPs pertaining to Covid-19 rules for travel.
The Western and Central railways with 1,367 trains and 1,685 train services respectively have stated restoring all services from Friday.
(Manas Dasgupta)