Ganeshotsav 2022: Night darshan buses a hit among Mumbaikars

Senior citizens opt for hop-on-hop-off buses for Ganpati darshan

Hundreds of Mumbaikars picked the nighttime for a darshan of their favourite Bappa, with the launch of BEST's Ganeshotsav special tour. The transport service's all-night buses clicked with the devotees, who went around the city, hopping from one Ganpati pandal to another. A special service was launched for senior citizens, too, by the state administration.

The service has been particularly useful for devotees who prefer hopping from one pandal to another, for the darshan of Ganesha. "On the very first night, more than 500 devotees took rides and about 4,000 people availed the facility so far. The response to the night darshan buses has been overwhelming," a BEST official said.

The BEST Undertaking has organised an overnight Hop On-Hop Off (HO-HO) facility on popular Ganpati pandal routes, and the buses start from various locations.

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The night darshan buses operate from 11 pm to 6 am. File pic

One of the popular south Mumbai routes starts from CSMT and goes around Metro, Girgaon church, Prarthana Samaj, Tardeo, Nagada, Byculla station (East), Jijamata Udyan, Lalbaug, Hindmata, Dadar station (East) and end at Wadala bus depot, said BEST officials. Buses on other routes start from Vikhroli, Oshiwara, Rani Laxmi chowk, Mahim, Back Bay and Colaba. These buses operate from 11 pm to 6 am, with a fare of merely Rs 60 per person.

"The idea is to encourage more and more Mumbaikars to use public transport during the Ganpati festival. It is not only economical, but also environmentally friendly and safe," BEST General Manager Lokesh Chandra said. The Directorate of Tourism of the Maharashtra government has also started a special Ganpati darshan service for senior citizens, aged 60 years and above. Buses take them on a HO-HO ride around the city.

Midnight locals for visarjan day

Central Railway and Western Railway have announced all-night local trains on the intervening night of September 9 and 10, when there is extra rush of devotees for Ganpati visarjan.

Western Railway will run four pairs of locals between Churchgate and Virar.

Central Railway will also run special trains on both the main and harbour lines, from CSMT-Kalyan and CSMT-Panvel, respectively.

On the Churchgate to Virar route, the four services start at 1.15 am, 1.55 am, 2.25 am and 3.20 am, an official said.

On Central Railway main line, there are two services to Kalyan, leaving CSMT at 1.40 am and 3.25 am, and one Thane special leaving CSMT at 2.30 am.

On the harbour line, there are two Panvel-CSMT services at 1 am and 1.45 am, and two services from CSMT-Panvel at 1.30 am and 2.45 am.