As the news of the 15-day lockdown-like curfew imposed by the Maharashtra government spread, thousands of passengers lined up at Mumbai’s Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, even as the railways announced a host of special trains.
Passengers scheduled to depart via night trains and others who were on the waiting list also came and waited outside the station early to avoid delays. Unlike last time when the railways had run unreserved special trains, this time only confirmed passengers are being taken in.
However, similar crowding was not witnessed at any other stations, unlike last year.
Senior railway officials who have been stationed at Kurla LTT said there was a flood of passengers because 18 to 20 regular north-bound trains on an average leave from this station.
In addition to this, 230 special trains (115 Up and 115 Down) have been planned just for April 2021.
“As of today, April 14, there are 26 trains (regular and special) from this one station, of which 18 are bound for north and the rest will head east bound,” Central Railway chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar told a publication.
Surjitt Sahani
