More commuters turn up at stations in Mumbai Metropolitan Region

Commuters at Thane’s booking counter on Tuesday

Stations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) saw larger crowds on Tuesday. Stations like Dombivli, Mira Road, Virar and Vasai saw many queuing up for monthly passes.

"In fact, at Dombivli, the sale of tickets has remained the highest for all seven days so far with maximum tickets issued on Monday. From 1,881 tickets sold on August 11 to 2,381 tickets sold on August 16, the sale of monthly season tickets at Dombivli has consistently remained in four digits," a senior official said.

On Western Railway (WR), 14,214 monthly passes were issued only between Mira Road and Dahanu between August 11 and 16, with the highest being at Bhayandar, followed by Virar and Mira Road.

Mira Road station on Tuesday witnessed a large crowd at ticket counters and at helpdesks for offline verification of vaccination certificates. People formed long queues at ticket windows to get monthly passes with verified vaccination certificates. Most of the people had an e-pass on their mobiles. A passenger said, "Although I completed 14 days last week, I came today to get my pass as there was a long weekend in between."

A train arrives at Thane station on Tuesday. Pic/Sameer Markande

Ticket checkers or guards were not present at the station to control the crowd and the platforms had the usual crowd like every day.

Those living in the MMR had been desperately waiting for trains to resume due to the poor road connectivity with Mumbai. "Almost the entire population is dependent on jobs in Mumbai and its suburbs. Hence, the clamour to reach Mumbai," a railway official said.

"I had been waiting for my 14-day period since the second dose to end. Now the period is complete, and I bought a pass on Tuesday. I should be able to take the train today," said a happy Ganesh Ganacharya, who bought his ticket at Dombivli.

During the spot visit at Thane on Tuesday, it was found that trains coming from Dombivli were completely full and there were fewer passengers getting in at stations within Mumbai's limits.

BEST footfall expected to fall

With the resumption of local trains for the fully vaccinated, BEST buses may lose some commuters. While not much difference was noticed on Tuesday, BEST officials at the headquarters said as the number of fully vaccinated increases, the change may start reflecting. However, loyal BEST commuters will stay as it has been acting mainly as a feeder route. Even if there is a difference, it will be on the express, long-route buses that run along the Western Express Highway, Eastern Express Highway, and on certain other routes. On average, 25 lakh people travel by BEST daily at present.