COVID-19: Railways to limit entry, exit points at stations in Mumbai

By PTI
MUMBAI: The Railways will limit the number of entry and exit points at stations in Mumbai to prevent unauthorised people from travelling in local trains, as the Maharashtra government’s new COVID-19 curbs come into force from Thursday night, an official said.

As per the guidelines under the state government’s “Break the Chain” order, only government servants, medical personnel, people requiring medical treatment and specially- abled persons will be permitted to travel in local trains starting 8 pm on Thursday till 7 am on May 1.

According to officials, even train tickets and passes will be issued only to those whom the state government has authorised to travel in local trains.

“We have already instructed the staff at railway stations about the new guidelines of the state government,” Central Railway’s chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.

Train tickets will only be issued at ticket counters and all other modes of bookings like ATVMs, JTBS (Jan Sadharan Ticket Booking Seva) and UTS will remain disabled till future orders, the official said.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) with the help of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Mumbai police have already started to limit the number of entry and exit points, Western Railway’s chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur said.

Personnel from the RPF, GRP and ticket-checking staff will check the identity cards at entry points before allowing people to enter the stations, railway officials said.

“We are going to follow the new guidelines. The state government has permitted three categories of people to travel in local trains. Only people with valid identity cards will be allowed to travel in local trains,” Thakur said.

Travellers boarding or alighting from outstation trains will also not be permitted to travel in local trains, as the state government’s order has not mentioned about it, officials said.