Coronavirus outbreak: ‘Train ticket booking on app rise 7% in 1 week’

Amid the rise in the cases of coronavirus patients in the city, commuters travelling on locals on Central line are now opting for mobile ticketing to get tickets

Amid the rise in the cases of coronavirus patients in the city, commuters travelling on locals on Central line are now opting for mobile ticketing to get tickets issued instead of buying them from booking windows at suburban railway stations.

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The Central Railway (CR) said there is a surge in the percentage of tickets issued from the railways’ Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) mobile application in a week than in the whole of February. The share of mobile ticketing on Wednesday increased up to 7.39% other two days as compared to the 5-7% tickets issued from the app in the entire month of February.

On Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday too, there was around 7% surge in the number of tickets issued by the app. While on Wednesday 87,000 tickets were booked through the app, around 40,000 tickets were booked the previous day, followed by 75,000 on Monday, 58,000 on Sunday and 77,000 tickets booked on Saturday. Officials said the number dipped on Tuesday owing to the Holi holiday.

The surge on Wednesday was attributed to the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the city.

Railway officials opined that the increase in online ticketing could be because commuters are avoiding to go to crowded places such as railway stations.

“Railway ticket booking centres are often crowded owing to the number of everyday travellers. There has been a substantial increase in the sales of UTS mobile tickets throughout the week. The ticket shares have increased from February and are expected to increase further in the coming days. As a preventive measure, we have also closed the heritage museum at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT),” said Shivaj Sutar, chief public relations officer, CR.

Passenger associations said commuters are taking precautions themselves to stop the spread of the virus.

“Local trains can play a crucial role in spreading a virus. The surge in the number of tickets booked from the mobile app clearly shows that passengers are taking precautions themselves. More passengers should be made aware of this app to booking the tickets so that there is no crowding at the booking counters” said Subhash Gupta, president of Rail Yatri Parishad, a passengers’ association.

The railways has also witnessed an increase in the cancellation of railway tickets on its outstation train journeys as compared to last year.

The percentage of passenger cancellation of railway tickets was maximum on Wednesday at 29.22% when 20,000 passengers cancelled their tickets. On Tuesday, around 11,000 passengers cancelled their tickets for outstation trains, while on Monday the number was 17,000. Despite being a weekend, on Sunday, around 8,000 tickets were cancelled.

62 in home quarantine

In Thane district, 62 people, who have returned from Iran, Italy, France and Dubai have been home quarantined, but they are asymptomatic

“The Airport Authority of India informed us about these 62 people who returned from different countries. We are monitoring them everyday and have kept a note of all those who have come in contact with these people,” Dr Kailash Pawar, district civil surgeon, Thane, said

More than 50 isolation beds are being facilitated, while rapid response teams and a special disaster management cell have also been formed

“We request those who have been to airports or come in contact with a patient who has been tested positive to come forward and report to us,” district health officer Manish Renge said.

‘Sanitisers to be installed at public places’

Mumbai’s guardian minister Aslam Shaikh said sanitisers will be made available at public places such as malls, stations, bus stands, courts and colleges across the island city. “The procurement will be made by calling tenders and the expenditure will be made from district planning committee funds,” he said.

Maharashtra sees five new cases on Friday

5 more people — two in Nagpur and one each in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmednagar — tested positive for coronavirus, taking the number of infected in Maharashtra to 19. The patient from Mumbai is the wife of the 64-year-old who was first admitted to Hinduja hospital.State surveillance officer Pradip Awte confirmed a passenger who returned from Dubai tested positive for the virus. According to the press release by the Ahmednagar district collector, the patient did not show symptoms of the disease, but his samples tested positive.

TIFR event goes online

The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) has decided to conduct its flagship ‘Chai and Why?’ session through a two-way video conference. Chai and Why is one of TIFR’s popular outreach programmes that is held on the first, third and fifth Sundays at various locations across the city. Through this programme scientists from diverse backgrounds interact with the general public and engage them in science. “It is best that we make all efforts to avoid situations that could facilitate the spread of the virus,” said the Chai and Why team at TIFR.

Friday prayers called off, marathon cancelled

The Allana House Masjid at Kala Ghoda issued a statement saying they were shutting the mosque and a date when the shrine would open will be announced soon. The statement read, “To prevent the spread of Coronavirus, masjid closed until further notice effective from 7pm on Thursday, March 12, 2020.” The ICT Marathon which was to be organised at Matunga on March 22 was also called off earlier on Friday. “We have decided to postpone it,” said Yashraj Jagtap, an organiser.

Don’t attend court unless necessary: HC

The Bombay high court issued an advisory on Friday directing litigants and lawyers to avoid attending court unless necessary and also directed those who come to court to observe the precautions mentioned by the health ministry. The administration has also exempted all HC staff from using the biometric attendance system. Earlier on Thursday, the registrar general had said that the HC administration was considering issuing an advisory to all employees and visitors to court.

Railways disinfect all trains

The Central and Western Railway have started disinfecting their local and outstation trains. The Western Railway on Thursday disinfected 30 local trains and will disinfect 30 more local trains. The disinfection is being done at night time when the local services are shut. The Central Railway has started disinfection of its local trains and is providing special attention to poles and handles. The Central Railway has also cancelled its heritage walk of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) for March.

CIDCO stops biometric attendance

The City Industrial And Development Corporation (Cidco) has stopped biometric attendance for its employees at the office in Belapur. Priya Ratambe, public relations officer, Cidco, said, “For the time being, the biometric attendance of employees has been discontinued to ensure everyone’s safety. “ Cidco has more than 2,000 employees and now they will have to sign the attendance muster. This system will continue for 15 days or more depending on the situation.

Railway museum shut; flights hit

The Central Railway, as a precautionary measure, has closed the heritage museum at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus for the public for the entire month

Meanwhile, the city’s air traffic has seen a decline after the coronavirus outbreak. The city airport, which handles around 950 aircraft movements every day, has been operating around 840 flights in the past one week. The airport’s everyday passenger footfall has seen a decline of around 25%.