Rlys suspends 85 trains over ‘low occupancy’ amid virus outbreak
RAILWAY MINISTER PIYUSH GOYAL HELD AN URGENT REVIEW MEETING ON TUESDAY WITH TOP OFFICIALS TO REVIEW PREPAREDNESS TO DEAL WITH COVID-19
NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways on Tuesday suspended at least 85 train services, including Mumbai-delhi Rajdhani Express, running on “low-occupancy” across several major routes until March 31 as part of measures to curb overcrowding in view of to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. The national transporter has seen an up to 80% jump in cancellations compared to the same period last year.
“Various preventive measures have been taken by Western Railways to counter the spread of this infection in railway premises. We have cancelled these trains due to low occupancy as a crowd management measure to contain the spread of the disease as many had cancelled tickets due to Coronavirus scare,” a Western Railways official said. Railway minister Piyush Goyal held an urgent review meeting on Tuesday with top officials to review preparedness to deal with Covid-19.
The ministry has also decided to set up a six-member Covid-19 response team comprising executive directors from the Railway Board. “This team will coordinate all Covid-19 preparedness activities, monitor progress through online dashboard and other forums, resolve issues of railway zones...issue advisories and media briefs and prepare a position for review meetings at various forums. One nodal officer from each zone will serve as point of contact for all Covid-19 preparedness measures and will be in constant touch with the Covid response team of the Railway Board. An online monitoring system has been created to do realtime monitoring of the efforts across the country,” the ministry said in a statement.
The national carrier on Tuesday also decided to increase the price of platform tickets from ₹10 up to ₹50 for major stations to ensure crowd control.
“Zonal Railways are being advised to discourage the accumulation of crowds at the major railway stations by increasing the price of platform tickets. Passengers are being advised to avoid non-essential train journeys. Before commencing a journey, passengers should ensure that they do not have a running fever. At any point of the journey, if a passenger feels that he is having fever, he can contact the railway staff for medical attention and further assistance,” a spokesperson for the ministry of railways said.
Of the 85 trains suspended to “contain the effects of Coronavirus”, 23 trains are operated by the Central Railway zone. They include long-distance trains including the Mumbai-delhi Rajdhani Express, Mumbai-howrah Duranto Express. Thirty-five trips of 10 trains stood cancelled by the Western Railways, 29 by South Central Railways, 9 by South Eastern Railways, 5 by Northern Railways, 4 by North Western Railways and 5 by East Coast Railways.
“The East Coast Railways has seen cancellation of more than 1 lakh tickets in the last six days. This cancellation is 67% more than the same period last year,” the railway ministry said.
The railways’ ministry said the decision to increase prices of platform tickets is being taken across railway zones at local level by the zonal Division Railway Managers (DRMS), who have been empowered to regulate the prices. Prices of platform tickets were last revised in 2015 from ₹5 to ₹10. The ministry of railways had also delegated the power to DRMS to increase the rate of platform tickets beyond ₹10 to regulate rush at platforms during specific requirements like fairs or rallies, according to the order issued in 2015.