Mumbai local trains may be restarted for essential services, Railways says no such instruction till now

Mumbai local trains, which remains shut since the start of the coronavirus-necessitated lockdown in March, is likely to start operations soon. A decision regarding the matter will be announced today.

Earlier on Thursday, in a video conferencing with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope emphasized the importance of local trains to help people engaged in essential services to travel safely.

The local trains, called the lifeline of Mumbai, transports nearly 8 million people from one corner of Mumbai to another, which includes three local lines, the Western line from Churchgate to Virar, the central line which CST runs beyond Kalyan, and the Harbour line.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has also expressed his desire to open up the local train lines for the public.

"There are messages in circulation about starting of suburban trains. In this regard, it is informed that "so far, we haven't received such instructions in this direction. We will update you once we receive instructions  from competent authority."," Shivaji M Sutar, Central Railway, Mumbai tweeted.

There are messages in circulation about starting of suburban trains. In this regard, it is informed that..

"So far, we haven't received such instructions in this direction. We will update you once we receive instructions from competent authority"@Central_Railway @drmmumbaicr

— Shivaji M Sutar (@ShivajiIRTS) June 13, 2020

Maharashtra continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus spread with Mumbai recording the highest number of coronavirus cases. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra has the highest number of cases with more than one lakh positive cases of infection and over 3,800 deaths.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday hinted at the fact that lockdown could be re-imposed again if the relaxations to the COVI-19 lockdown turn out to be risky.

"If the relaxations to the lockdown start turning out to be risky, we will be compelled to re-impose the lockdown," Maharashtra CM tweeted.