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Mumbai: The resumption of Mumbai local train services for the fully vaccinated general public in the city completed a month on Wednesday, and it was no less than a rollercoaster ride for commuters. The decision to resume the train service brought much respite to the common man, but it was also a hassle as citizens were not allowed to buy single journey tickets. And, this has resulted in a huge number of commuters buying or renewing season tickets. As per reports, over 743,000 commuters have obtained railway season tickets for the suburban train journey in the past month since local train services resumed. While Central Railway (CR) issued 548,046 railway passes, Western Railway (WR) issued 195,397 suburban railway passes to the commuters. The maximum number of passes were issued at Dombivli and Borivli railway stations.Also Read – Andhra Pradesh Govt Extends Night Curfew Till September 30 | Important Details Inside
Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the nodal authority in charge of issuing universal passes, said it does not have the exact figure of how many passenger passes were issued during the month. A senior BMC official said, “We have not collated the number of universal passes issued yet. It is a tedious process as it involves collecting the numbers from both online and offline systems.” Also Read – Madhya Pradesh Govt Allows Schools to Reopen from This Date As Covid Cases Dip | Deets Inside
A report by a local daily has further stated that during this one-month period, the number of ticketless commuters has also significantly increased on CR with more than 100,000 passengers fined for traveling without a ticket in a month. Overall, the railways have collected Rs 3 crores as a fine from ticketless travellers. The Western Railways had collected a fine of Rs 43.92 lakh from 15,786 passengers travelling without railway tickets. Also Read – RT-PCR Report Not Required For Transit Passengers At Kolkata Airport | Latest Guidelines Here
Speaking to the media, Chief Public Relations Officer of Central Railways, Shivaji Sutar said, “We appeal to the passengers to travel with proper and valid railway tickets to avoid inconvenience and travel with dignity and follow all norms mandated for Covid-19.”
Meanwhile raising this issue of ticketless travellers, Vice-president of the Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh, Siddhesh Desai said, “Even after having two doses, tickets for the single journey are not allowed to commuters. Many small businessmen and commuters need to travel to multiple locations every day. It’s not possible to take four different passes of CR, WR, Harbour and Trans-harbour. He has also filed a complaint with the rail ministry on this practice.
“As the oldest and biggest commuter organisation representing Mumbai commuters, we have demanded a single monthly pass for all routes or single-journey tickets to eligible commuters,” Desai added.
Local train services for fully vaccinated passengers resumed on August 15. To board a local train, passengers have to register showing their vaccination details and get a universal pass through online or offline procedure and then buy monthly railway passes from stations. The suburban train services were suspended for the general public on April 15 due to the rise in Covid-19 cases in the city.
Earlier last month, BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said, “…in order to make it convenient for the citizens to travel in local trains and obtain Railway Monthly Pass, an offline verification process for Covid-19 Final Vaccination (completed 14 days after second dose) will start from August 11 at 53 railway stations in BMC jurisdiction area and a total of 109 railway stations in Mumbai Metropolitan Region. It will be functional in two consecutive sessions from 7 am to 11 pm. This will be facilitated both online and offline. The process of creating an app and starting the online process may take a little more time. Hence, the offline process will start from August 11, so that there is no inconvenience to Mumbaikars.”
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