Central Railway had resumed train services on the Matheran section on November 3, 2020
The train services between Aman Lodge and Matheran station saw a surge in the number of passengers in November last year. File pic
It seems the rising COVID-19 numbers are acting as a deterrent for those who enjoy taking the train to Matheran. According to available figures, there has been a decrease in the number of people taking the train to the hill station over the past two months. The train services between Aman Lodge and Matheran station had seen a surge in the number of passengers in November last year.
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However, figures started dipping from February and have been quite low in the first 15 days of this month. Central Railway had resumed train services on the Matheran section on November 3, 2020, after demands from passengers and luggage vendors. Initially, two services were run and later four additional ones were included.
As per the figures, 16,946 and 28,186 passengers took the train in November and December last year respectively. The figure increased to 33,515 in January, but dipped to 20,548 in February. However, 11,507 passengers have taken the train in March till now. Meanwhile, the railways are working on introducing an optic fibre cable in the hill station, which will help in developing a high-speed rail network.
“A new communication gateway has been opened in the Neral-Matheran section with the inauguration of the Optic Fibre Link (OFC) between the Neral and Jummappati stations. The line is being extended to Matheran. The total cost of this work is R4.02 crore,” a CR spokesperson said. “The OFC can also serve for providing wi-fi facility and internet connection in the entire section. This will help resolve all the long-pending communication requirements and the internet coverage can be extended further to Matheran city,” he added.
28,186
No. of people who took the train to Matheran in Dec
11,507
No. of people who took the train to Matheran in Mar
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