Mumbai: Both the Central Railway and Western Railway have decided to suspend the services of air-conditioned local trains in Mumbai from Friday in view of the coronavirus outbreak.
WR spokesperson said that AC locals would be canceled till further notice. Ordinary train services would replace them, he said.
CR spokesperson said AC local services on the Thane- Vashi-Panvel trans-Harbour corridor will be suspended till March end.
The WR operates 12 AC services between Churchgate and Virar, which are often crowded during peak hours. The CR operates 16 services of AC local on trans- Harbour corridor every day.
Meanwhile, CR has cancelled 30 more outstation trains till April 1, citing low occupancy due to the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Thursday.
These trains are cancelled mainly due to low occupancy, as people have been advised to avoid non-essential travel during the pandemic, a Central Railway spokesperson said.
The decision was taken based on the Railway Board's directive, he added.
Several trains starting from Mumbai and other cities in the state have been cancelled, but none of them are popular and were operated only twice or thrice a week, he said.
Meanwhile, the number of commuters on suburban trains of the Western Railway (WR) reduced by over 8 lakh on Tuesday.
