The Central Railway, on Friday, stopped the sale of platform tickets at its six long-distance train stations, including Mumbai CSMT, from immediate effect to avoid unnecessary rush in view of surge in COVID-19 cases.
"Sale of platform tickets have been stopped with immediate effect from today at the following stations — Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Kalyan, Thane, Dadar, Panvel, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus," Central Railway chief spokesperson Shivaji Sutar told news agency ANI.
"The decision has been taken to avoid unnecessary crowding and ensuring social distancing at stations during the current summer rush," Sutar said.
Last month, the Central Railway had increased the price of platform tickets to Rs 50 from 10 at some key stations in Maharashtra to avoid crowding in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Barely six months after they returned, thousands of migrants working in Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) are now re-packing their bags to go back home as Maharashtra is in the grip of a tsunami-like Covid 'second-wave'.
Meanwhile, several photos and videos are doing rounds on social media showing crowd at various stations. The Central Railway has asked people not to believe in such rumours.
Sanjeev Mittal, General Manager, Central Railway through a virtual press conference held today appealed to everyone that any speculation about the same may please be avoided in such challenging circumstances of COVID-19.
He also said Railways run more trains in summer for the convenience of passengers and adequate tickets are available as only passengers having confirmed tickets are being permitted to board the trains.
Mittal added passengers are advised to adhere all norms, SOPs related to COVID19 during the boarding, travel and at destination.
