Women allowed to travel by suburban trains; Railways Minister & Maharashtra govt concur

Allowing Maharashtra government's request of allowing women on suburban trains, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced on Tuesday that Railways will allow women to travel by local trains from October 21 onwards. Goyal has informed that women would be allowed to board trains only between 11 am to 3 pm and after 7 pm. 

Earlier, the Disaster Management Secretary of Maharashtra had written to the Railways authorities requesting them to make local trains in Mumbai available for women from 11 am to 3 pm, and later from 7 pm till the end of the local services. The letter also said that amid COVID-19, entry to all the women carrying valid tickets should be allowed. As of now, people who are allowed to travel through local trains in Mumbai have been given special QR code passes.

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Apart from asking to allow women in local trains, the letter had also asked to increase the frequency of the local trains in Mumbai so that the ongoing services for emergency service personnel are not impacted, and they can continue as before. The Western Railway has also written a letter to the Maharashtra government, asking it to assess the number of passengers that are likely to increase so that the COVID-19 protocols can be planned accordingly. It has also proposed a meeting between Railway officials and the state government so that the authorities can workout on this plan to make local trains in Mumbai available for the female passengers. 

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Metro & Monorail resume operations in Mumbai

After being off tracks for nearly 7 months, Mumbai's Monorail between Chembur and Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk resumed operations on Sunday with limited services. The Monorail got back on tracks a day ahead of the resumption of Metro services in the city, which are set to commence services from Monday. The decision was taken by the state government to resume services of Metro and the Monorail while Local Trains still remain restricted for the general populations. 

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Metro resumed operations from Monday at 8:30 am. Time duration of the operations for the single 11-km line between Ghatkopar to Versova has also been curtailed to 12 hours starting from 0830 hrs daily. Only 200 services of trains will run with services in either direction in up to 8 minutes as against 5 minutes and 400 services earlier. As against 1,350 people per service earlier, now the train will carry only 360 people.

READ | After Govt Approval, Mumbai Metro Announces Resumption Of Passenger Services From Oct 19

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