Allow govt, bank staff to use Mumbai local trains: Maha govt to Railways

Mumbai: The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government has requested the Indian Railways to allow employees of various Central Government Offices/Establishments, High Courts and Public Sector Banks to travel by local trains.

This comes a day after the state government extended lockdown till July 31 to combat the further spread of Coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic which has infected more than 1.50 lakh people in the state.

Earlier on June 15, both the Central and Western Railway had resumed their Mumbai suburban services over main and harbour lines. However, these suburban services were strictly meant for ‘essential staff’ as identified by the state government.

Notably, the Thackeray-led Maha Aghadi government had  identified around 1.25 lakh commuters as essential service workers.

As per the reports of Times of India, a meeting will be convened to decide on the modalities. To accommodate Central government officials, and others number of services needs to be increased.

Maharashtra is the worst-affected state in India due to coronavirus or COVID-19. It has 1,69,883 cases, including 7,610 deaths.