Allow vaccinated commuters in Mumbai locals, says association; warns of protest

Citing angry passengers approaching them to protest on road and railway tracks, the passenger associations have said that this would be their last attempt to urge the government.

As the Maharashtra government is yet to decide on allowing the general public to travel by local trains, railway passenger associations have decided to again approach the state government requesting the same.

Local train services for the general public were suspended for the second time on April 15 after the increase in coronavirus cases in the city. (HT PHOTO)

Citing angry passengers approaching them to protest on road and railway tracks, the passenger associations have said that this would be their last attempt to urge the government.

“We get calls every day from angry passengers who are spending hours and extra money to travel to their workplace. Despite repeated attempts, the state government has not paid any attention to our demand. People want to stage protest. We will approach the state government one last time and urge them to allow people,” said Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad.

The state health minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday had said the decision on allowing vaccinated people to travel by local trains would be taken after discussions with railway authorities.

“We had suggested to permit vaccinated people to travel by local trains and we had discussed this extensively with passengers residing across Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). We can also help share information on vaccinated passengers and their travel destinations. The state government should immediately allow general public,” said Lata Argade, secretary, Suburban Railway Passenger Association.

Local train services for the general public were suspended for the second time on April 15 after the increase in coronavirus cases in the city.

Earlier, as the train services were resumed on February 1, the general public were allowed to travel in the stipulated period to avoid crowding. They were allowed to commute by local train between 12pm and 4pm, post 9pm and starting with the first local train till 7am.