Bhubaneswar: Keeping in view the surge of Covid-19 infection and due to poor patronisation, East Coast Railway (ECoR) has decided to cancel the services of four special trains originating from several places under its jurisdiction.
The services of the trains mentioned below have been canceled till further notice.
(08445/08446) Bhubaneswar-Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Special train from Bhubaneswar with effect from May 8-22 and from Bhubaneswar with effect from May 9-23, 2021.
(08516/08515) Visakhapatnam-Kirandul- Visakhapatnam Special train from Visakhapatnam with effect from May 7-21 and from Kirandul with effect from May 8-22, 2021.
(02708/02707) Tirupati-Visakhapatnam-Tirupati Special train from Tirupati with effect from May 7-30 and from Visakhapatnam with effect from May 8-31, 2021.
(02784/02783) Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam- Secunderabad Special train from Secunderabad from May 8 till May 29 and from Visakhapatnam from May 9 till May 30, 2021.
Meanwhile, as many as 11 pairs of trains have been canceled in Odisha during the weekends to keep a curb on the spread of the pandemic from May 8-16.
These are Bhubaneswar-Keonjhar-Bhubaneswar, Puri-Angul-Puri, Bhubaneswar-Bhadrak-Bhubaneswar, Puri-Cuttack Puri, Cuttack-Bhadrak-Cuttack, Cuttack-Paradip-Cuttack trains. Similarly, to-and-fro services of Visakhapatnam-Raipur, Bhubaneswar-Palasa, Rayagada-Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar-Bangiriposi trains have also been canceled.
Apart from this, Railways also canceled a slew of Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto Expresss from May 9, stating low patronisation and rising coronavirus cases as the reason behind the decision.
“The to-and-fro services of eight Shatabdi Express, two Rajdhani Express, two Duronto Express and one Vande Bharat Express are among around 28 trains that have been canceled till further advice,” stated a press release issued by the Northern Railways.
Poor patronisation of once popular trains also indicates that a lesser number of people are traveling amidst the surge in coronavirus cases, officials said.
(Edited By Mrunal Manmay Dash)