Central Railway passengers demand restoration of passes on their line, too, officials say most curbs have been lifted and others will be done away with soon
A train arrives as commuters wait at Dadar station. File pic
Restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic continued to be relaxed, with Western Railway restoring passes for 17 more trains, starting Saturday. Passengers of the central zone also want restoration of passes on their line. WR chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur said, “We have restored season tickets in 17 additional special passenger/DEMU/MEMU and mail/express trains with immediate effect, and with a few guidelines.”
ADVERTISEMENT
“Passengers with a valid season ticket will be permitted to travel in unreserved coaches only, and not in reserved coaches wherein only those with valid reserved tickets are permitted. In addition, all rules of the local administration, state and central governments regarding Covid-19 should be followed in trains and at railway stations,” he added. He said it was important to note that a season ticket will be valid on stations of specified sections and in trains over WR only, until other concerned zonal railways specify the adjoining section and trains.
Commuter associations said CR should also reinstate season tickets for all intercity trains, and restoration of withdrawn services. “Indian railways restricted a lot of things during the pandemic; it should roll back all that at one go, and not in phases. There is confusion among passengers, as the restoration process is happening in bits and pieces," Ankit Yewale from Pune, who commutes to Mumbai, said. “If railways wants to withdraw certain services forever, it should first roll back everything, take things to the original status, allow people to understand the new sets of regulations and then start withdrawing whatever they do not want to,” another commuter Prakash Jadhav said.
Railway officials said CR had also relaxed most of the restrictions and would remove whatever little remains soon. "The railways is unrolling restrictions in sync with the restrictions by local governments," an official said.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
