Western Railway releases list of essential staff who can take the train

Even as the Western Railway on Friday released a list of categories of essential staff that have been allowed to travel on local trains, detailing six sectors categorically, including staff from private hospitals and pathology labs, the BEST Undertaking said they would be discontinuing the buses for essential staff now that local trains have begun.

WR officials said there are no changes to the list but staff categories have now been identified for clarity so that there is no confusion on the ground. Central Railway officials said they did not want to release any such list and access to local trains remained for emergency employees as identified by the Maharashtra government.

As per the list, the first category included all Railway staff, including staff of MRVC, IRCTC, and all who have been issued authority to travel in Workmen Special. The second category includes all staff of Mantralaya, including that of the Collector's Office.

While the third category includes staff of all municipal corporations (BMC, MBMC, VVMC, TMC, KDMC, Palghar Municipal Corporation), including teachers from municipal school and contractual staff engaged by municipal corporations, the fourth category includes Maharashtra Police including Mumbai Police and GRP. The fifth category allows all the staff of public bus transport undertakings like the BEST, MSRTC, MBMT, VVMT, NMMT, TMT and the KDMT and the sixth category includes all government/private hospital staff, including all pathological/lab testing staff.

BEST said around 600 dedicated buses will be stopped and introduced on other routes including feeder routes in the city. "The special buses will be discontinued gradually and introduced on feeder routes," said BEST spokesperson Manoj Varade said.

Four deaths on tracks in 24 hours

As local trains resume and train frequencies increase, there has been a stark rise in the number of deaths on tracks. An official note from the GRP said there were four deaths over a span of 24 hours due to track crossings at various places in Mumbai

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news