Amid coronavirus fears, trains buses in city to undergo deep cleaning

Local trains are expected to see thinning crowds in the next few days as most commuters prefer taking non-AC cabs for their daily commute. Pic/Ashish Raje

The crowds in Mumbai's public transport across had thinned down on Saturday. While, as reported by mid-day first, there has already been a fall in the numbers of tickets and passengers, Railways said on Saturday, they had suspended the use of blankets onboard outstation trains.

Railway officials said they had also taken up all trains - local and long-distance - for disinfection before and at the end of the journeys at yards and stations. Central Railway's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar, said, "Linens are being sanitised, blankets are not being distributed with bedroll. What is used by passengers will be segregated in separate linen bags. All blankets will be put through a high temp soak in the tumble dryers, supplemented by UV light immersion."

Curtains and blankets have also been withdrawn on WR. Sutar added that coaches were being disinfected, all surfaces - such as door handles, berth grab handles, wash basins, entry door and partition door handles - are being wiped and cleaned.

While cab aggregators like Ola and Uber said they did not want to comment on the effect on business, there was no statement from them about measures of disinfection. Kaali-peeli cab drivers said they had seen a rise in passenger count as commuters preferred avoiding crowded buses and trains. Taxi union sources said non-AC cabs were seeing more rides.

"The BEST Undertaking has instructed drivers and conductors to use gloves and masks and the frequency of cleaning has been stepped up," a BEST spokesperson said.

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