Hyderabad, Jun 23 (IANS): After 15 months, Multi-Modal Transport Service (MMTS) in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and outskirts partially resumed on Wednesday.

The popular suburban trains catering to the needs of intra-city and suburban traffic were back on tracks with the first train starting from Falaknuma in the old city to Lingampalli on the outskirts.

Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the MMTS services were suspended from March 23, 2020.

The partial resumption of services came as a relief to passengers who prefer this affordable mode of transport.

Before the suspension of services, nearly 1.60 lakh passengers were travelling every day in 121 MMTS trains.

The South Central Railway (SCR), however, resumed the services with only 10 trains. While six trains will be operated between Falaknuma and Lingampalli, the remaining four services will run between Lingampalli and Hyderabad.

The services will be operated between 7.50 a.m. and 7.05 p.m. The first train started from Falaknuma for Lingampalli at 07.50 a.m. The last train will start from Hyderabad at 6.15 p.m. and reach Lingampalli at 7.05 p.m.

South Central Railway (SCR) said this was in line with the gradual resumption of the train services.

They advised passengers to follow all Covid protocols like maintaining social distance, compulsorily wearing masks and frequent sanitization, etch in trains and station premises.

SCR officials said based on the patronage and passengers feedback, they will take a decision on increasing the number of MMTS services.

The MMTS service was introduced on August 9, 2003. With the service becoming popular among commuters, the authorities increased the number of services

Due to the cancellation of the MMTS train services in March last year, some of the season ticket holders having a valid tenure couldn't utilize their tickets for the remaining period. To assist such ticket holders, Railway Board has extended the validity of all the season tickets to the extent of number of days lost, from the date of resumption of the train services. Passengers holding valid Season tickets (purchased either on App or at booking counters) should approach the booking counters at MMTS / sub-urban stations to validate and extend their existing season tickets.

Apart from the option of purchasing tickets at the Booking counters, all cash-less modes of purchasing MMTS tickets will be functional for the MMTS travelers. Further, to encourage passengers to opt for contact-less and cash-less purchase of MMTS tickets, these cash-less modes of ticket purchases are also being given additional benefits of 3-5 per cent.

Gajanan Mallya, General Manager, South Central Railway appealed to all MMTS rail users to avail both the facilities of extension of season tickets as well as Cash-less ticketing options to make their journey safer and hassle-free. He advised rail users to utilize digital mode for purchasing the MMTS tickets, in order to avoid overcrowding at general booking counters and also to reduce physical contact while purchasing the tickets.