Indian Railways temporarily suspends concession for senior citizens

To discourage unnecessary travel and to prevent the vulnerable category of senior citizens from undertaking unnecessary travels in wake of rising coronavirus cases in the country, Indian Railways will temporarily suspends concession on booking of all tickets except patients, students and Divyangjan category from tonight till further advisory. This will be applicable for both unreserved and reserved segment in trains, reports Mint.

To discourage nonessential travel and overcrowding of trains, Railways has already cancelled over 150 pairs of low occupancy trains. Passengers will get full refund. “Trains are cancelled keeping in view the availability of alternate trains for passengers and ensuring that no passenger shall remain stranded,” Railways said.

To avoid unnecessary crowding at railway stations, Railways has increased the price of platform ticket to ₹50 at many stations.

Railways has also issued advisories to passengers to avoid non-essential train journeys and to ensure that they do not have running fever while they are commencing the journey.

In Mumbai, both the Central Railway and Western Railway have decided to suspend the services of air-conditioned local trains from tomorrow in view of the coronavirus outbreak, till further notice. Ordinary train services would replace them.

The total number of novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 166 today after a record number of fresh cases reported from the various parts of the country. Maharashtra is the worst affected state with the maximum number of cases. The tally includes 141 Indian nationals and 25 foreigners.

(Source: Mint)