‘Allow all citizens on Mumbai local trains or face protests, BMC poll boycott’

As local train services have been suspended for general commuters for over two months now, passenger associations have threatened to protest and not cast their votes in the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections

As local train services have been suspended for general commuters for over two months now, passenger associations have threatened to protest and not cast their votes in the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

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Stating that travelling within the city has become impossible for citizens, passenger associations said they would stage protests along with commuters if no immediate action is taken by the Maharashtra government.

Local train services were suspended for general public for the second time since March 2020 after an increase in coronavirus cases in the city on April 15.

Earlier, the state government had permitted citizens to travel by locals during stipulated time periods. They were allowed to commute during non-peak hours, excluding 9am to 12pm and 4pm to 9pm, resulting in nearly 3.3 million passengers (2 million on Central Railway and 1.3 million on Western Railway) travelling by local trains every day.

“People have been approaching us to tell about their difficulties in commuting. They are forced to travel for around six hours every day by buses for work. What kind of an unlocking process is this? If there is no action taken, there will soon be a time when people will sit on the railway tracks and roads to protest,” said Subhash Gupta, president of passenger association Rail Yatri Parishad.

Associations have also stated that if no respite if given to passengers, they would ask citizens to not vote in the upcoming BMC elections. “We have been urging people to use social media to bring the attention to the travelling situation in the city. As trains have not been resumed, we will ask people to not vote in the elections,” added Gupta.

Passenger associations have suggested the state government and railways to allow vaccinated passengers to travel by local trains.

“It becomes impossible for somebody to travel from Thane to south Mumbai for work every day amid the suspension of local trains. At major workplaces, employees are required to take the vaccine. The state government should start allowing passengers who have taken the vaccine or permit people to travel during stipulated time periods like before,” said Lata Argade, secretary of Suburban Railway Passenger Association, which is another body.