Chennai: With Indian Railways saying it is planning to gradually restart passenger train operations from tomorrow initially with 15 pairs of trains (30 return journeys), health experts have expressed worry that this might lead to further spread of Covid-19.
“While we can welcome the measures to ease lockdown and to facilitate the movement of people by reopening public transport, it should be ensure that the system is fool-proof and every passenger is checked thoroughly, both at boarding and arrival points. Otherwise, it might only end up adding more coronavirus positive cases,” said a government doctor.
A Health department official said, “We already are having a tough time in managing Covid-19. Hope this should not lead to more chaos.’ However, Railway officials said they should involve other departments and ensure that passengers are monitored and social distancing norms are followed”.
To start with, these trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi station connecting 15 important cities of the country, namely Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Trivandrum, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi.
“Thereafter, Indian Railways shall start more special services on new routes, based on the available coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for Covid-19 care centres and an adequate number of coaches being reserved to enable operation of up to 300 trains every day as ‘Shramik Special’ for stranded migrants,” said a release.
Booking for reservation on these trains will start at 4 pm on 11 May and will be available only on IRCTC website and mobile application. Booking of tickets through ‘agents’, (both IRCTC and Railway) shall not be allowed. No provision of tatkal and premium tatkal accommodation will be there and no current booking shall be allowed either.
All these trains will be run only with AC coaches and with limited stoppages. The fare will be equivalent to the ticket fare that is charged for Rajdhani Train.
Ticket booking counters at stations will remain closed and no counter tickets, including platform tickets, will be issued. Only the passengers with valid confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the railway stations.
It will be mandatory to wear face cover, undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed on trains.
“Indian Railways has decided for the gradual resumption of passenger train services but existing Shramik special trains will continue to run as per current system on the request of the concerned state governments,” said Ministry of Railways.
Officials said that passengers travelling in these trains may not be given blankets and linen to reduce the chances of the spread of coronavirus. There will be special norms for the air-conditioning inside the coaches and temperatures will be kept slightly higher than the usual and maximum supply of only fresh air will be ensured.
‘State’ of affairs
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has appealed to all States to permit the operation of migrant special trains so that the stranded can reach home in the next three to four days.
The appeal comes after Home Minister Amit Shah wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to allow such trains to run.
“As per the directions of Hon’ble PM @NarendraModi ji, Railways is fully geared up to run 300 Shramik Special trains everyday at short notice since the last six days. I appeal to all the states to give permission to evacuate and bring back their stranded migrants so that we can get all of them back to their homes in the next 3-4 days itself,” Goyal tweeted.