Mumbai: Local trains open for vaccinated, Tuesday will be a big day

The cityrsquos local trains opened for fully vaccinated citizens from Sunday but the response was poor It is expected to be another lowkey affair on Monday a bank holiday While the railways has added 173 services in anticipation of the load from Tuesday officials said the thin ridership on the first two days will give them time to prepare betterAn empty platform at CSMTI work in a pharmacy and somehow I did not get a ticket as an essential worker I got it recently after producing my double vaccination certificate I usually commute between Thane and Dadar and going by the road all these days proved not just expensive but also timeconsuming Travelling by trains is a different affair altogetherrdquo 36yearold Ramprasad Sharma saidAlso read Mumbai In 15 years suburban railway has not adapted to Covid19 changesDadar station PicAshish RajeAcross stations midday found that the preparedness was complete with additional forces in place and more ticket windows However Sunday being a mega block services were limited Between Andheri and Bandra midday found very few commuters on a local train CSMT barely had any footfall on SundayAt CSMT both the gates on either side had been opened and were being manned by cops With the Universal Travel Ticket software in place the crowds at civic booths at the stations had considerably reduced in the last few days ldquoWe have opened a sufficient number of ticket windows at all stations Being a Sunday the response was low today and crowds may be expected later in the weekrdquo a senior railway official saidAn empty platform at KurlaAt Andheri West BMC had deployed many officials to respond to citizensrsquo queries and verify vaccination certificates There were also a few information boards As of now the public can buy only monthly season passes not single ticketsThe scene at Santacruz station PicShadab KhanldquoI am extremely happy that the authorities have taken a decision to allow passengers who have completed 14 days since receiving the second dose of the vaccine As the trains have started I will save a lot of time and money on commutingrdquo said M Panchal who travels between Andheri and Virar every dayA nearly deserted FoB at Bandra station on Sunday PicShadab KhanldquoOn Tuesday which is technically the first working day both essential workers and those fully vaccinated who have acquired the rail pass will travel together But the railways are fully prepared to handle the situationrdquo a railway spokesperson saidMore services addedThe railways on Sunday evening decided to run an additional 173 local train services from August 16 to accommodate the extra load While WR will run 1300 suburban services instead of the existing 1201 an addition of 99 trips the CR will run 1686 services instead of the existing 1612 onemdashanother 74 more tripsA local train on the central line173No of additional services to be added from Aug 161300Total suburban services to be run by WR from today1686Total suburban services to be run by CR from today