After almost 10 months, the general public can finally board Mumbai local trains from February 1, but in fixed time slots.
On Friday afternoon, the Maharashtra government wrote a letter to the Chief General Managers of the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) stating that all categories of people be allowed to board the suburban trains starting February 1.
Within hours of receiving the letter, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal gave the go-ahead and announced the resumption of suburban train services.
And, as soon as the reports about the same surfaced online, netizens took to Twitter and flooded the microblogging site — some expressed delight while others were armed with criticisms, and not to mention chuckle-inducing memes and jokes.
One user made a hilarious video comparing the daily struggle of travelling in Mumbai local trains to the climax of the popular Marvel movie, 'Avengers: End Game.' In the video, Mumbai trains are compared to Thanos, while the commuters are likened to the Avengers. The video shows how people struggle to board the trains.
Here's what netizens had to say:
Meanwhile, the local train services, however, will resume in a restricted manner with a person holding a valid ticket or pass be allowed to board local trains in fixed time slots.
The Union Railway Minister informed that for the general public, local trains will be available in three-time slots: from the start of the day's services to 7 am; 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm; and 9:00 pm to the end of the day.
https://twitter.com/PiyushGoyal/status/1355118739822317568?s=20
As per the instructions of the Maharashtra government, between 7:00 am to 12:00 pm and from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm only those engaged in essential services will be allowed to travel, the railway minister said.
The services of the local trains, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, were shut down on March 23 during the lockdown. And the partial resumption of services was announced on June 15. However, only those who were deemed to be essential service providers were allowed to board these trains.
(With inputs from Agencies)
