Mumbai: Only 1.5mn MMR citizens will be able to take trains after it opens from Aug 15

In MMR, to which the three lines of suburban train services cater, the fully vaccinated population is 3,482,426 as of August 12

Though the state government has allowed fully vaccinated people to travel by local trains, the percentage of the working population in the fully vaccinated people is around 40% of 3.48 million citizens in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) who have taken both their doses. This means merely 1.4 to 1.5 million citizens could be benefited from the relaxation at least for the next few weeks.

The train travel which was restricted only for the people from emergency and few essential sectors from April 15 after the second wave of Covid-19 struck Mumbai. (HT Photo)

The train travel which was restricted only for the people from emergency and few essential sectors from April 15 after the second wave of Covid-19 struck Mumbai, will be opened for the commuters fully vaccinated from August 15. In MMR, to which the three lines of suburban train services cater, the fully vaccinated population is 3,482,426 as of August 12. Of them, 2.56 million are in the age group of 45-plus years, while merely 314,000 are in the age group of 18-45 years.

As per the estimates of the state’s relief and rehabilitation department, among the fully vaccinated people over 45-plus, more than 60% are senior citizens who generally do not travel by train for office work. Around 20% of the working class people prefer to travel by road, according to officials from the state government. The remaining 6,11,945 are healthcare and frontline workers who anyway were allowed to travel in the trains. This means, including the fully vaccinated people in the age group of 18-45 years, around 1.4 million citizens can take benefit from the relaxations being rolled out from Sunday.

The percentage of fully vaccinated people in 18-45yrs it too low as only 314,000 have been fully vaccinated though the first dose administration in the age group has been done for whopping 18.84 million citizens. This is mainly because of the tweaking in the central government policy over the gap between two doses of the vaccine. Immediately after the vaccination was opened for the 18-45 years group on May 1, the mandatory interval between two doses was increased to 12 to 16 weeks. This has forced many from the working class to wait longer and they will be due for their second doses this month.

“It is true that a limited percentage of the fully vaccinated people will be able to travel in train at least for few more days. That is the reason there is no much of rush at the centres opened for the registration at the railway stations. But the main idea behind unlocking is the gradual relaxation to avoid any crowding at public places. Until the working people in 18-45 are due for their second dose and they complete 14 days after it, we will have the manageable crowd in the trains at least for one more month. If only a million people are added to the current footfall of 1.9 million, it will be much less than 8 million travellers in pre-Covid times,” said an official from the chief minister’s office.

Railway authorities have also stated that the number of passes issued to passengers in the first two days has been less than anticipated. “The number of passes issued have been nearly constant on both days. We were anticipating an increase which did not happen. However, there could be a rise after the verification process has been made online.” said a senior railway official.

Aseem Kumar Gupta, principal secretary, relief and rehabilitation department said, “We are expecting 1.5 to 2 million people to register for the universal travel pass in the first phase. The number may go up gradually once the second dose backlog is done with, in the near future and a few more relaxations are given. We are expecting the people who do not regularly travel by train, too, to register for the pass for convenience. The online portal is working very smoothly and we have brought down the turnaround time for the e-pass to four hours. Until 6pm on Friday, we have received 43,000 requests for the universal e-pass in 24 hours.”

Passenger associations have stated that they would ask the Maharashtra government to consider reducing the gap between vaccines that would enable more commuters to travel.

“Of the 8 million people that travelled by the local train services before coronavirus 30% people are currently working from home. We want more commuters to be able to travel by trains and will approach the state government asking them to consider reducing the gap between vaccines. The task force members will be able to advise and reduce the gap days that will allow more fully vaccinated passengers to commute.” said Lata Argade, secretary, Suburban Railway Passenger Association.

Of the fully vaccinated 3.48 million citizens in MMR, 2.02 million are from Mumbai, 1.03 from Thane and 207,130 and 227,102 from Palghar and Raigad respectively. MMR has nine municipal corporations and nine municipal councils.

In all, the state has administered 48,206,726 doses, of which 12,466,250 are towards second doses. Of the total doses administered, 18.8 million are in18-45 years age group, 16.5 million in 45-60 years, while above 60 years have been administered with 12.85 million doses.

On Thursday, 32,534 monthly passes were issued to the suburban railway passengers on both the Central and Western Railway networks. Of the 32,534 passes, 22,104 were issued on the Central Railway and 10,430 were issued on the Western Railway. In two days, 66,887 railway passes were issued. 34,353 passes were issued on Wednesday. On Friday, 17,553 monthly season passes were issued by the Central Railway and 5773 passes were issued by the Western Railway up till 9pm .