MARGAO
The reduction in passenger demand in view of the Covid pandemic crisis affecting the states saw the suspension of Goa-Mumbai passenger bus service.
Bus owners in the know pointed out that they were left with no option than to suspend the Margao-Mumbai bus service because of dwindling passenger demand in the wake of the spike in Covid cases in Maharashtra and Goa.
"The SOP put in place by the Maharashtra government also prompted us to do a re-think on sending the buses. One of the SOPs mandates that 50 per cent occupancy, a factor that has made the service uneconomical. Secondly, obtaining e-pass for the journey only created bureaucratic hurdles for the owners”, informed Anthony Rodrigues, owner of Jolly Travels.
He said the Margao-Mumbai bus service will resume operations when there’s a respite in situation and increase in demand.
Meanwhile, Konkan Railway has cancelled as many as four trains running on the KR route due to reduction in the demand.
However, trains such as the Konkan Kanya and Mandovi Express will continue to run as usual.
Cancelled trains are: Nizamuddin-Madgaon Rajdhani Superfast Bi- weekly special, Madgaon-Nizamuddin Rajdhani Superfast Bi- weekly Special, Karmali-Mumbai CSMT Tejas Superfast Special, Mumbai CSMT-Karmali Tejas Superfast Special.
