Mumbai local trains open, but footfall doesn’t rise significantly

Commuters on a local train at Borivli station on Wednesday. Tuesday saw 32 lakh passengers on suburban trains, which is more or less a constant number. Pic/Nimesh Dave

The access given to fully vaccinated citizens on local trains has so far not led to significant changes in the city's public transport patterns with statistics still more or less the same. Mumbai local train statistics of Tuesday, the first proper working day since the access was given, do not show a significant rise at 32 lakh. The numbers were compiled on the basis of official ticket sales and passenger footfalls.

While Dombivli and Borivli stations saw the highest number of monthly season tickets being booked, the number of tickets issued on Tuesday was low at 25,874 - lower than Monday, which saw 39,000 bookings. BEST figures on Tuesday do not show a significant rise except for a few thousand. A spokesperson said that on Friday, the bus passenger number was about 24,26,065 and on Saturday, it dropped to 22,77,968. On Monday, the number rose to 24,41,090 - a rise of just 20,000 commuters.

"Changes in railway numbers will come around in a month as more and more people get fully vaccinated. We are fully ready with train operations and appeal to commuters to travel safely and wear a mask," a railway official said.

Also read: More commuters turn up at stations in Mumbai Metropolitan Region

25,874
No. of season tickets booked on Tuesday

39,000
No. of season tickets booked on Monday