As Mumbai comes out of the shadow of the pandemic, plans are afoot to resume the suburban train service, the lifeline of the metro. After Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced citizens will be allowed to travel in suburban trains from August 15, the BMC on Tuesday said it will start offline verification for the same.

Starting Wednesday, eligible citizens who have completed Covid vaccination (including a period of 14 days after the second dose) can go to their nearest suburban railway station along with a hard copy of vaccination final certificate and a photo ID for verification and get their monthly railway pass.

Even as the online process of registration though a mobile app is underway, the BMC said it may take a little more time and the offline process will continue until further notice.

“Offline verification process will be started at 53 suburban railway stations in BMC jurisdiction including stations on the Central, Western and Harbour Line. This facility will be available at 109 local railway stations in the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). It will be functional in two consecutive sessions from 7 am to 11 pm, seven days a week till further orders,” said BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal.

Offline registration for the monthly railway pass is also available in surrounding cities. All municipal corporations, municipal councils, local self-government institutions in MMR have been directed to make similar arrangements from Wednesday.

Chahal further said that citizens who do not have both the vaccination final certificate and a photo ID for verification or even one of these documents will be denied entry by the railway administration at the railway station. He appealed to the citizens of Mumbai to co-operate with the arrangements made by the BMC and the state government.
 
At the ticket window at the railway stations help desks have been set up by BMC, concerned municipal corporation, municipal council or local self- government. These help desks will be functional in two consecutive sessions from 7 am to 3 pm and from 3 pm to 11 pm. BMC or the concerned local self- government staff at the help desk will check the validity of the final vaccination certificate (second dose) of the concerned citizen on the CoWin app as well as photo ID proof. Upon verification if both documents are found to be valid the certificate and the identification proof will be stamped in the prescribed format. The stamped Covid Certificate then shall be presented at the ticket window at the railway station and railway monthly pass will be issued by the railways accordingly.

Irrespective of Covid vaccination, government, semi-government and employees in essential services can continue to travel by local trains as is already allowed by the government.

Citizens who have not been administered even a single dose or have been administered only one dose of the covid-19 vaccine will not be allowed to travel on suburban trains at present.

The BMC said that considering the population of Mumbai metropolis and Mumbai region there will be as many numbers of ticket windows at suburban railway stations as the number of help desks and appealed to the citizens not to crowd around unnecessarily. It has appointed nodal officers for smooth implementation of the entire process and necessary training is being given to the staff.

The authority has warned of strict police action under the Epidemic Control Act, Disaster Management Act and Indian Penal Code against those trying to produce a fake or bogus vaccination certificate.