With the number of Covid-19 cases tumbling in the island city, the restrictions appear to be easing out, especially prior to the upcoming festive season.
On August 15, 2021, the Maharashtra government allowed everyone who is fully vaccinated and has completed at least 14 days since the second vaccine dose, to use the local train services in Mumbai.
However, even with the local trains open for everyone satisfying the aforementioned criteria, the crowd load increased sluggishly. Now, over a month after the services opened to all, Mumbai locals have witnessed a passenger count of 38-40 lakhs.
As per a report by FPJ, the number of daily local train passengers in Mumbai suburb has spiked up to 38-40 lakhs, which is the highest record this year.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the count of daily commuters were over 80 lakh in the suburban Mumbai local trains.
Increasing Commuters on Locals: Indicate Return to Normalcy
With the festive season around the corner, activities across Mumbai have increased, with an increase in the daily number of passengers travelling on local trains increasing.
Mumbai local trains have witnessed the highest daily passenger count in Mumbai suburb, so far this year. Earlier this year, in February, the daily average had touched 37 lakh.
Starting August 15, the state government had allowed anyone who is vaccinated with both the doses and has completed the required 14 days after the date of second dose, to use local trains services in the city.
It did, however, launch the e-pass facility, or ‘universal travel pass’ for using local trains, more on which can be learnt here.
It must be noted here that even though the 40 lakh mark of daily commuters on Mumbai locals is just half the actual pre-Covid numbers, the count of people choosing to use local trains has been increasing continually since August 15.
This is a sign of people moving towards normalcy.
According to FPJ’s report, the daily passenger count on Central Railway is around 21-22 lakhs, while on Western Railway it is about 17-18 lakhs on the Main, Harbor and Trans-Harbour lines.
The number of monthly season tickets sold spiked on September 13 and 14. On Monday and Tuesday, the Central Railway sold 29,306 and 25858 monthly season tickets respectively.
Similarly, 8,028 and 10,995 Monthly Season Tickets have been issued on Western Railway on Monday and Tuesday respectively.
Experts predict this trend to continue in the upcoming days too.
The Railways is also expecting the sales to grow as more fully vaccinated passengers are expected to travel after mid-September, adds another source.