Central Railway (CR) will now run 423 essential suburban services, adding 68 services to the existing 355 services that are currently operational on the main and harbour lines. This is to ensure suburban trains are not crowded and enable commuters to maintain social distance.
“We have learned that the number of commuters have increased. More essential service employees are being allowed to travel by suburban trains. So, we have decided to increase the number of services to 423,” said senior railway officials, CR.
“46 of the 68 additional services will run on the main line and the remaining 22 services will be on the harbour line,” he added.
Railway officials have further informed that only essential staff as identified by the State Government of Maharashtra is permitted to travel on local trains. Currently, these select suburban services are not open to general passengers. Further, essential service providers are only allowed to enter the railway premises with valid identification cards and QR codes issued by their organisation.
On the request of the Government of Maharashtra, suburban services on the Western and Central Railway were started from June 15. The services were gradually increased for the convenience of passengers and to avoid crowding and maintain social distance.
