Mumbai: Local trains open for vaccinated, Tuesday will be a big day

A fairly empty train at Khar. Pics/Shadab Khan

The city's local trains opened for fully vaccinated citizens from Sunday, but the response was poor. It is expected to be another low-key affair on Monday, a bank holiday. While the railways has added 173 services in anticipation of the load from Tuesday, officials said the thin ridership on the first two days will give them time to prepare better.

An empty platform at CSMT

"I work in a pharmacy and somehow I did not get a ticket as an essential worker. I got it recently after producing my double vaccination certificate. I usually commute between Thane and Dadar and going by the road all these days proved not just expensive, but also time-consuming. Travelling by trains is a different affair altogether," 36-year-old Ramprasad Sharma said.

Also read: Mumbai: In 1.5 years, suburban railway has not adapted to Covid-19 changes

Dadar station. Pic/Ashish Raje

Across stations, mid-day found that the preparedness was complete with additional forces in place and more ticket windows. However, Sunday being a mega block, services were limited. Between Andheri and Bandra, mid-day found very few commuters on a local train.

CSMT barely had any footfall on Sunday

At CSMT, both the gates on either side had been opened and were being manned by cops. With the Universal Travel Ticket software in place, the crowds at civic booths at the stations had considerably reduced in the last few days. "We have opened a sufficient number of ticket windows at all stations. Being a Sunday, the response was low today and crowds may be expected later in the week," a senior railway official said.

An empty platform at Kurla

At Andheri West, BMC had deployed many officials to respond to citizens' queries and verify vaccination certificates. There were also a few information boards. As of now, the public can buy only monthly season passes, not single tickets.

The scene at Santacruz station. Pic/Shadab Khan

"I am extremely happy that the authorities have taken a decision to allow passengers who have completed 14 days since receiving the second dose of the vaccine. As the trains have started, I will save a lot of time and money on commuting," said M Panchal who travels between Andheri and Virar every day.

A nearly deserted FoB at Bandra station on Sunday. Pic/Shadab Khan

"On Tuesday, which is technically the first working day, both essential workers and those fully vaccinated who have acquired the rail pass will travel together. But the railways are fully prepared to handle the situation," a railway spokesperson said.

More services added

The railways on Sunday evening decided to run an additional 173 local train services from August 16 to accommodate the extra load. While WR will run 1,300 suburban services, instead of the existing 1201, an addition of 99 trips, the CR will run 1,686 services instead of the existing 1,612 one - another 74 more trips.

A local train on the central line

173
No. of additional services to be added from Aug 16

1,300
Total suburban services to be run by WR from today

1,686
Total suburban services to be run by CR from today