Mumbai, June 30: The Indian Railways on Tuesday decided to expand local train services to 350 in Mumbai on the main line and harbour line. From July 1, 150 more trains will be added to the existing locals on these lines. Only essential service providers can board Mumbai local trains. Services for general passengers have not resumed yet. The decision to add more trains was taken so that social distancing is followed properly amid rising coronavirus cases in the city.

Ministry of Railways in a statement said, “As identified by Maharashtra state government, essential staff including employees of Centre, IT, GST, Customs, Postal, Nationalised Banks, MBPT, Judiciary, Defence and Raj Bhavan are allowed.” Mumbai Local Trains Resume Services Only For Essential Service Workers, General Public Not Allowed to Board; Check SOPs For Passengers.

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Currently, there are 200 trains which are operated by the Central railway in Mumbai Division. Out of the total trains, 130 services are running between CSMT and Karjat, Kasara, Kalyan, Dombivali, Thane on the main line. Meanwhile, 70 trains are running between CSMT and Panvel o­n harbour line.

From June 29, the Western Railway, added 40 additional suburban services to the existing 162 services, taking the total trains to 202. On the WR, in addition to the 202 services, another 148 more will be added, to make a total of 350 from Wednesday. All these new services will be run as 'fast trains', halting only at major stations.  The Indian Railways said that the number of services may be modified as per the requirement to ensure social distancing norms.

Mumbai local train services resumed after more than two months on June 15  only for the essential service workers in the government sector. The services were suspended ion March 22 to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Mumbai.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 30, 2020 11:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).