With the
Navratri and
Durga Puja festivities in the air, people across the country are already in a festive mood. As the festivals inch closer, public transport is also expected to witness a spin in the peak hours.
Keeping in view the expected crowd in the upcoming days, the Maharashtra government has announced some changes in the metro and bus services. The changes are brought in place for the nine-day-long Navratri festivities. With additional metro services and special buses plying on these days, the state administration is looking forward to catering to the rush of devotees in the most organised manner possible.
These special services will help all those commuters who will be travelling during the Navratri days to take part in various
Dandiya, Garba, and Durga Puja events.
Metro services to run till midnight
As per the latest updates, the state administration will keep metro services open till midnight between October 19 and 23. As a part of that, services on Metro Line 2A (which runs from Andheri West to Dahisar) and Line 7 (which runs from Dahisar East to Gundavali) will continue till 12:20 am. In these extra timings, 14 additional services will be operated at the interval of 15 minutes in these corridors.
Presently, the timings for the last Metro of Line 2A and Line 7 are from 10.20 pm and 10.30 pm, respectively.
As said by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the extended service will enable Mumbaikars to celebrate the Navratri festival with enthusiasm.
“The festival o
f Navratri will demand many people to travel late at night, and we made this important decision to ensure their safety and comfort during their travels. It will bring a lot of benefits to the commuters, and this extension will be witnessed as a valuable decision by Mumbaikars as they can now enjoy the festival with much more enthusiasm,” the statement issued by the CMO said.
Additional buses to ply during Navratri days
Apart from metro services, the state administration will also operate special buses between October 15 and 23. In view of the rush during Navratri, especially during the 'Mahalaxmi Yatra' in the city, the special buses by the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) will operate from Byculla, Mahalaxmi, and a few other railway stations to the Mahalaxmi temple.
Besides that, a total of 26 additional buses will also run during the nine-day festival from Sewree, Lalbaug, and CP Tank among other places.
These special buses will be deployed on route numbers 37, 57, 151, A-63, A-77, 83, and A-357.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
