With suburban trains thrown open for the fully vaccinated, commuters ask why they should spend money on monthly passes, and seek daily tickets instead for easier commute
Citizens get vaccination certificates authenticated at Borivli station on Monday
A local train on Monday. Pics/Satej Shinde
“What about those who need to travel only once or twice in a week and they are eligible to travel on local trains after being fully vaccinated? Why are single tickets not allowed for fully vaccinated if they need to travel beyond their monthly pass limit?” questioned commuter Adarsh Tiwari.
Arpita Naik, a marketing executive, was equally miffed. “A monthly pass means that I am restricted to a particular route and cannot go beyond that even if duty calls. It becomes very difficult for marketing people like us who have appointments in multiple parts of the city. We are fully vaccinated, then why these limitations?”
Also read: Mumbai local trains: Why monthly pass even for one trip, ask commuters
Dombivli resident Ashwini Bapat too finds the vax rule a bit absurd. “I just want to make a trip to the city and come back. Then why should I burden myself with a monthly pass? I am not going to travel every day and taking the road will cost me a bomb. I am fully vaccinated and it means nothing if I cannot travel by local train due to such odd rules,” said Bapat, an office executive.
A commuter gets his papers verified at a BMC booth at Mahim station on Aug 12. Pic/Ashish Raje
Railway officials said they are issuing the monthly tickets as per the Maharashtra government’s unlock guidelines. “No single journey tickets will be issued to fully vaccinated commuters unless you have a connecting outstation train with a valid ticket. The old system of essential workers’ access to Mumbai local trains continues,” a senior railway official said.
The state government has said that given the threat of the third wave, they will assess the situation after a month and then take any further decision on local train access.
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Day in Aug when fully vaxxed were allowed to use local trains
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