Indian Railways announced on Thursday that it would be introducing 200 special trains between October 15 and November 30 to cope with the Christmas rush of passengers meet.
In good news for passengers planning to travel during the festive seasons, Railway Committee Chairman and CEO VK Yadav said the railways have decided to do a daily inventory of passenger services, depending on the needs of state governments and status the pandemic.
“We held meetings with the general managers of the zones and instructed them to speak to the local administration and check the status of Covid-19. You have been asked to give us a report after which we will decide how many trains can be introduced during the holiday season. We currently assume that we will run around 200 trains, but it is an estimate that the number could be higher, ”said Yadav during a virtual press conference.
In particular, on March 25, following the Covid-19 pandemic, Indian Railways suspended all regular passenger, mail and express trains indefinitely.
To transport stranded migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists and students during the lockdown, the national transporter started special Shramik trains on May 1. From May 12, 15 pairs of air-conditioned special trains were launched, followed by 100 pairs of trains from June 1 and 80 more pairs from September 1.
The railways put 20 pairs of clone trains into operation as of September 12th.
“As far as passenger trains are concerned, the situation now is that we will analyse the requirements of trains, the traffic patterns and Covid-19 status on a daily basis. Wherever there is a need we will run trains,” he said.
(With inputs from IANS)
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