Two days after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) initiated an offfline Covid-19 vaccination certificate verification process and the railway pass distribution process, the Maharashtra Government on Thursday launched an online facility to enable the fully vaccinated citizens to obtain an e-pass for travelling in suburban trains in Mumbai.
As part of the exercise, the state relief and rehabilitation department introduced already in-use web link https://epassmsdma.mahait.org for purchase of suburban train e-passes by the common citizens who have not only been fully vaccinated but have also completed 14 days after their second dose.
“The e-pass should be saved in mobile and after showing the e-pass at the ticket window at suburban railway stations, the citizens will get a monthly travel pass directly from the Railways. Therefore, offline verification will not be required at railway stations, if universal online e-pass is obtained,” an official announcement said.
“Eligible citizens who apply for the pass will be automatically verified for completion of Covid-19 Vaccination (14 days after taking the second dose) through this web-link. No separate human interaction will be required for this online verification process. Citizens who apply without completion of 14 days after second dose of vaccine, will receive e-pass only after completion of that period,” the announcement added.
The introduction of offline Covid-19 vaccination certificate verification process at suburban railway stations along with the online e-pass system will make it possible for all eligible citizens to travel in suburban trains from August 15.
Meanwhile, The BMC appealed to all Mumbaikars not to crowd at railway stations and complete the verification process by either approaching railway stations in a step-by-step manner or using the online process.
Considered one of the busiest commuter rail systems in the world, the Mumbai suburban railway system caters to 75 lakh commuters on the Western Railway, Central Railway (main) and harbour railway networks. It is spread over 390 kilometers.
On August 10, the Maharashtra Government announced that the fully vaccinated people could travel by suburban local trains in Mumbai from August 15.
It may be recalled that the Central and Western Railways, which had suspended all their suburban train services in the third week of March last year following the announcement of *lockdown, resumed operations for those working in essential services from June 15 last year.. The services were gradually increased for the convenience of passengers and to avoid crowding and to maintain social distancing. From October 17, it allowed all ladies to travel by suburban trains for a specified number of hours during a day in Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
From November 2 onwards, the Central and Western Railways increased the number of services by another 753 and together operated 2,773 suburban train services.