The Maharshtra government on Friday allowed the resumption of suburban train services in Mumbai for general public in a staggered manner from February 1, ANI reported. The Uddhav Thackeray government wrote to Railway authorities, asking to run local trains in three slots – from the first service to 7 am, noon to 4 pm and from 9 pm to the last service.

In the intervening time slots, only those in essential services, such as frontline workers and healthcare staff, single women passengers and those with a special pass from the state government, will be allowed to travel, according to NDTV.

The Railway authorities have begun the process of getting approval for the move, Chief Public Relations Officer of Central Railways told ANI. Earlier this week, the Central and Western Railways had decided to begin operations of all its suburban train services from Friday for those working in essential services and women. Following resumption of operations by these two sections, the total number of trains running has now gone up to 2,985, Central Railways told PTI. This is around 95% of the 3,141 services being operated by both Central and Western Railways before the pandemic.

In March, suburban train services had been stopped in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, before it resumed partially with restrictions in July. Mumbai was once India’s coronavirus hotspot, and with the vaccination drive underway in the country it aims to open fully from a strict lockdown. The local trains are the lifeline of the city and world’s busiest urban rail systems.