Mumbai's Central Railway Authority has raised the cost of platform tickets to ₹50, in a bid to avoid overcrowding in the premises. The change will be applicable only at the key stations of the suburban train network, that witness heavy footfalls daily. As per reports, the heightened prices have been in effect since February 24 in view of the unprecedented spike in cases, soon after the resumption of local train services for all. The prices shall remain in force until June 15, this year.

Price hike to curb summer rush

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Travellers now have to buy a ₹50 platform ticket if they wish to avail the local train services of the Central Line. As per reports, the altered pricing will be levied only at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Dadar and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai. Satellite town stations such as Thane, Kalyan, Panvel and Bhiwandi Road will also impose the swelled-cost ticket. These platform tickets were previously sold at ₹10.

This sudden, high increment in the cost of platform tickets has been introduced in order to stagger crowds at local train stations, especially during the summer travel rush. Since the resumption of local trains in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and adjoining areas for all, a surge in the rate of COVID transmission has been reported, which spells danger for the overall health index of the region.

While case tallies crossed the 1000 mark tallies for 4 times last week, on Monday the graph dipped to 855 fresh infections. This indicates that the coronavirus spread can be arrested in Mumbai by imposing strict norms and stringent protocols. Authorities and city dwellers have to join forces and multiply efforts and defeat the resurgence of COVID-19 in Mumbai.

At present, there are about 8,294 active virus cases in the city, with recovery booming to 93.6% with 3,06,129 recovered patients. So far, around 11,479 have died due to the pandemic in Mumbai.