New Delhi: Railways on Thursday cancelled 84 trains, which will not operate between March 20 and March 31, in view of low occupancy and the novel coronavirus pandemic, officials said. With this, the total number of cancelled trains has climbed to 168.
Railway officials said the trains were identified last night and the decision will be effective from March 20 until March 31.
"All passengers having tickets in these 168 trains are being informed about it individually. No cancellation fee will be taken for these trains. Passengers will get 100-per cent refund," an official said.
The national transporters has also issued a set of guidelines to zonal headquarters for its catering staff, stating no employee having fever, cough, runny nose or difficulty in breathing "should be deployed in the business of food handling on the Indian Railways".
Here are the list of 168 trains due to low occupancy in view of COVID19, from March 20 to 31.
Also Read: COVID-19 Effect: Railways Increases Platform Ticket Rate To Rs 50
East coast railways due to poor patronisation, 05 pairs (total 10 trains) of trains running from various places over east zone have been cancelled. Regular analysis of passenger ticket bookings is being done. Further decision will be taken after reviewing the passenger profile, said oficial.
- 12882 Puri-Howrah Bi-weekly Garib Rath Express from Puri on 23, 25 & 30th March, 2020.
- 12881 Howrah-Puri Bi-weekly Garib Rath Express from Howrah on 24, 26 & 31st March, 2020.
- 12832 Bhubaneswar-Dhanbad Tri-weekly Garib Rath Express frm Bhubaneswar from 20th to 31st March, 2020.
- 12831 Dhanbad-Bhubaneswar Garib Rath Express from Dhanbad from 21st to 30th March and on 1st April, 2020.
- 12281 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Duronto Express from Bhubanbeswar on 25th March, 2020.
- 12282 New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Duronto Express from New Delhi on 26th March, 2020.
- 12278 Puri-Howrah Shatabdi Express from Puri from 20th to 31st March, 2020.
- 12277 Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express from Howrah from 20th to 31st March, 2020.
- 22708 Tirupati-Visakhapatnam Express from Tirupati from 20th to 29th March, 2020.
- 22707 Visakhapatnam-Tirupati Express from Visakhapatnam from 21st to 30th March, 2020.
Continuous review of passenger bookings is being done. More number of trains may be cancelled if required. Meanwhile, the East Coast Railway has appealed to avoid non-essential travel due to Pandemic CoronaVirus.
The railways even increased the prices of the platform tickets at over 300 stations from Rs 10 to Rs 50 to stop crowding at the railway stations.
Also Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Railways Withdraw Curtains, Blankets In AC Coaches
The novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 169 on Thursday after 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Health Ministry.
The cases include 25 foreign nationals -- 17 from Italy, 3 from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore. The figure also includes three deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra so far.
(With IANS inputs)