If you are a woman living in Mumbai or adjoining areas, this news is just for you. Starting tomorrow i.e. October 17, you will be able to travel by local trains. As part of the ongoing ‘unlock’ operation, the Maharashtra government has started giving permission to resume some economic activities, though in a graded manner.
The news comes just days after the Uddhav Thackeray administration allowed the resumption of metro services in the city. The Mumbai Metro will begin its operations again from Monday i.e. October 19.
Women were only allowed to travel in ‘Mumbai locals’ only if they were part of the essential services. However, from Saturday onwards, all women would be able to travel on the local trains, according to a report by The Indian Express. Due to coronavirus, there is a set period for women passengers. They can travel in Mumbai locals from 11 am in the morning to 3 pm in the afternoon. After that, they can access the rail services from 7 pm in the evening till the last train.
The officials have clarified that the services and the set SOPs will remain in force for the emergency staff; the only relaxation is for the women passengers. They won’t need a QR code to enter the station and board the trains. The development coincides with the beginning of 9-day festivities of Navratris observed by Hindus across India. Usually, this is the beginning of the long festive season with decked up markets and frantic shopping. But this year, the trend is to ‘go digital and travel less’ due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Mumbai locals are known to be the lifeline of the ‘financial capital’ of India. The trains stopped the operations in the last week of March due to the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Partial services were resumed for the essential staff from June 15. A 2017 report had said that the Mumbai locals are said to be the busiest train system in the world. In pre-Covid days, the local trains used to carry more than seven million passengers each day.