Covid-19: Indian Railways to restart train services from 12 May

Nagpur Updates May 10, 2020

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Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet on Sunday that Indian Railways plans to slowly reboot passenger train services from May 12, with 15 pairs of special trains initially connecting New Delhi to other cities in India.

Passenger train services have remained suspended since a national shutdown was imposed in March to combat the coronavirus. The lockout, twice extended, is scheduled to close on May 17.

“These trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi Station connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi,” a press release from the Government said.

The reservations can be made Monday from 4 pm only through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation website, the order said. Ticket booking counters shall remain closed at railway stations.

The government added that all travelers will need to wear face masks, and will be checked for signs of coronavirus. It will only require asymptomatic passengers to board the trains. “In due course, further specifics will be released separately including train schedule,” the order said.

After May 12, the press release added, further special services will begin on new routes. After reserving 20,000 coaches for coronavirus care centers, the Government said, these special services will be focused on the available coaches. The 300 Shramik Special trains will also be considered for running every day to ferry stranded migrant labourers to their hometowns.

Shramik Special Trains Goyal said earlier on Sunday that the Railways have been designed to run up to 300 “Shramik Special” trains a day over the past six days to take migrants from their workplace to their hometowns. He added that 366 Shramik Special Trains with over 3,60,000 migrant workers had been operated by the Railways to date. Goyal said that 287 trains have reached their destinations, while 79 are now in transit.

“I appeal to all states to give permission to evacuate and bring back their stranded refugees so that in the next 3-4 days we can get them all back to their homes,” the railway minister said in another tweet. The Center had first announced on April 29 that trains “Shramik Special” will start ferrying migrant workers home.