Covid measures: Dip in passengers without masks on Mumbai’s local trains, says CR

In what can be termed as a positive development, the Central Railway (CR) has witnessed a significant drop in passengers travelling without masks on Mumbai’s suburban trains in the past two months

In what can be termed as a positive development, the Central Railway (CR) has witnessed a significant drop in passengers travelling without masks on Mumbai’s suburban trains in the past two months.

In June, the government railway police (GRP) booked 330 passengers who were without masks on Mumbai’s CR trains and at stations and collected a total fine of ₹66,800 as compared to the 777 passengers booked in May for the same offence. (HT FILE)

“We have witnessed a drop in passengers found travelling without face masks. We are hoping it [the decline in violators] will continue when local train services resume for the general public as well,” said a senior CR official.

However, the Western Railway (WR) has witnessed a rise in the number of offenders travelling without masks.

In June, the government railway police (GRP) booked 330 passengers who were without masks on CR trains and at stations and collected a total fine of ₹66,800 as compared to the 777 passengers booked in May for the same offence. In July (till July 30), the number of offenders reduced significantly to 207 and the fines fell to ₹41,300.

In contrast to this, 1,798 WR passengers had been fined in May, for travelling without masks, which fell to 1,326 passengers in June. WR had collected a total fine of ₹1.82 lakh from violators in June. However, last month (till July 30), the number of offenders rose to 1,954 and the fines to ₹2.51 lakh.

The state government had empowered GRP to collect fines from passengers travelling without masks on local trains and at stations. A fine of ₹200 was fixed for each passenger.

Passenger associations have insisted that the railways and the state government undertake strict checking of passengers inside local trains. “It [decline in violators on CR] is positive news but railway authorities should check inside train compartments. Squad teams should be formed by railways for inspection inside the compartments. When train services resume for all passengers, such squad teams are required to be deployed,” said Subhash Gupta, president of passengers’ association Rail Yatri Parishad.

Currently, local trains are operational only for employees working in essential care services, for those travelling for medical purposes and vaccinations. Locals were suspended for the general public for a second time on April 15 due to the spike in Covid-19 cases.