Mumbai, January 26: The Western Railway is planning to resume full local train services from January 29. The development reportedly came after a meeting chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on re-opening of local in Mumbai for the general public was held on Monday.  At present, essential services providers are allowed to use locals on Western and Central lines.

According to a report published in Mumbai Mirror, the Traffic Control Department of the Mumbai Central Division of Western Railway issued a letter to all station masters. In the letter, the Traffic control Department asked them to prepare to run a full schedule of local train services from January 29. The media house has accessed the letter. Mumbai Local Trains Update: All Passengers to be Allowed, Time Slots Proposed by Maharashtra Govt in Letter to Railways.

As per the report, Western Railway currently runs only 1,201 local train services and this number would likely to reach 1,367 on Friday. Meanwhile, the Central Railway at present runs 1,580 services a day. The full strength of local services on Central Railway is 1774 locals a day. Mumbai Local Train Update: Maharashtra Govt May Announce Resumption of Services for All Today.

Before the lockdown in March 2020, local services in Mumbai has a ridership of around 80 lakh. At present only 20 lakh people travel on locals. The local services resumed in June after being suspended for more than two months due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from essential service providers, women are also allowed to travel during off-peak hours.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 26, 2021 09:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).