Mumbai schools may have reopened with caution and care but students not allowed on local trains

Currently not everyone has access to local trains. File pic/Ashish Raje

Schools and colleges have reopened after a period of 1.5 years, and with this, the students, staff and teachers will require public transport options for easier and faster commute. But given the Covid-19 situation, there is limited access to local trains with students not allowed, and BEST buses are saturated. On Day 1 - October 4 - of institutes reopening, many college students spent hours commuting and are now seeking permission to travel by local trains.

As a large number of students approached the railways for tickets and passes, the Central Railway on Tuesday wrote to the Maharashtra government, seeking guidance and permissions on issuing the same for them. "Students have been approaching us at counters seeking tickets for local trains and guidelines are sought from the Maharashtra government about them, since at present there is no Standard Operating Procedure or guidelines yet issued," the letter stated. The Federation of Suburban Passengers' Association has also written a letter to the Maharashtra government.

Only fully vaccinated travellers above age 18 and essential services staff are allowed to travel by local trains at the moment. File pic/Ashish Raje; Mugshots/Rajesh Gupta

"The railways should be allowed to issue half tickets for children and students so that they can at least start travelling on local trains, and the pressure on road transport comes down," Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of the Federation said. Many students tried to travel on local trains to reach their colleges on Monday. But many were allegedly told by Railway staff that they would be allowed only if they had taken both doses of the vaccine and completed 14 days after receiving the second dose. Classes have begun for Stds VIII - XII and these children are in the age group 13 years - 17 years. The vaccine is available only for those over 18 years of age.

‘I travelled without a ticket'

Most students had to travel by road to reach their schools and colleges. Some in school were dropped by their parents. Some risked travelling by train without ticket. Mitali Karlad, a Kalwa resident and an HSC student at Bhandup said, "I was not given a ticket as I hadn't taken the vaccine. So I decided to travel without a ticket. But when I reached Mulund station from Kalwa station, I saw many ticket checkers there. I got scared and stepped out of the station. It took me more than 2.5 hours to reach home and I spent around Rs 200 on travelling by autorickshaw. It will be expensive to travel by road every day. On Tuesday I did not go to college. At least students should be allowed on local trains."

Another HSC student, Anurag Kamat, a Borivli resident said, "I am a student of National College at Bandra West. I was not given a railway ticket or pass. So I decided to by road. I left home at 11 am by bus and took 2.5 hours to reach Bandra, and later I took an autorickshaw to go to college. The road journey is too costly and time consuming." Vaishnavi Kedare, also an HSC student, a resident of Badlapur said, "On the first day it took me 3.5 hours to reach my college at Mulund. I went to the station to buy a ticket but they refused to give it to me and told me that I was not vaccinated. Travelling by road every day is also not affordable. Students should be allowed to travel by local trains."

Aditya Jadhav, a resident of Kalwa and an HSC student also spent over R200 travelling by autorickshaw from his college in Mulund. He said, "Buses are never on time. I waited for around 1 hour at the bus stop and later the bus took 1.5 hours to reach Mulund due to traffic. It is not possible to travel like this every day. While returning I spent around Rs 220 rupees on an autorickshaw. It's too costly."

Mulund resident Narayan Pandurang Mane, 50, father of 17-year-old Khushi, an HSC student, dropped her at a bus stop and then left for work. He later called her and found that she had gone ahead of her destination - her college at Bhandup West - because she missed the stop. "She later reached Bhandup West by another bus. Earlier she travelled by train but this is the first time I sent her alone by bus. It will be easier for her to travel by train."

‘Students faced difficulties'

Teachers and staff of colleges also agreed that students will find it easier to commute by trains. Pooja Kulkarni, principal of the Sou Laxmibai English Junior College at Mulund East, said, "We opened for Std XII on Monday but students are not able to reach due to non-availability of train services for them. Vaccines are only available for those over 18 years of age. The students should be allowed to travel on trains at least if they show their college ID cards. On Monday, most of our students faced many difficulties while travelling and many came late and many reached after lectures got over. The Railways should allow students to travel on trains."

Vile Parle's Sathaye College Vice-Principal Dr Madhav Rajwade said, "The Railways should grant permission to students to travel on trains. In fact, they should run a special train for the students to travel." A senior Railway official said, "We received many complaints from our TCs and also from many students that we should allow them on trains to travel to their colleges. But at this stage we don't have permission from the state government. We have written to the government about this."