Mumbai: Local trains ridership falls below 30 lakh

CR’s passenger volume has remained steady at 15 lakh so far. Pic/Ashish Raje

Passenger figures in local trains have been on the downslide for the past week. However, there is no clarity if it is because of the fear of COVID-19 or because of the festive period. A senior official said the number of daily passengers on both Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) has gone below 15 lakh.

Masked commuters seen at CSMT. File pic

But we should wait for a week or so to draw conclusions on whether commuters are staying away from work due to a second wave or due to Holi and other festivities," the official said. Passenger numbers have been coming down since the Maharashtra government announced new restrictions of 50 per cent office attendance since March 15.

While on WR, statistics showed around 13 lakh passengers on trains on Monday, the CR passenger numbers remained steady at nearly 15 lakh. Till last month, each railways ferried about 20 lakh passengers daily.

Meanwhile, there was no communication from the state government about restrictions on local trains or any other modes of transit. The railways are appealing to commuters to wear masks, maintain social distance and check advisories while travelling to other states.