Indian Railways has canceled all passenger trains till March 31 as the number of coronavirus cases in the country have gone up to 324. The Railway Ministry said in a statement, “In continuation of the measures taken in the wake of COVID-19, it has been decided that cancellation of all passenger train services on Indian Railways and Konkan Railway shall be extended till 31 March.”
However, the goods train will remain functional throughout this period. With this decision, around 12,000 trains will be affected. Indian Railways operates around 9,000 passenger trains and 3,000 mail express services daily.
Indian Railways had earlier announced that no cancellation fees will be charged for the cancelled trains. The passengers will get 100% refund on cancelled tickets during this time. Railways also eased refund rules for passengers who had booked tickets to travel between March 21 and April 15.
The number of positive cases of coronavirus is rapidly rising. “Railways has found some cases of coronavirus infected passengers in trains which makes train travel risky. Avoid train travel as you may also get infected if your co-passenger has coronavirus. Postpone all journeys and keep yourself and your loved ones safe,” Railways tweeted.
Another tweet read, “Railways has found that 4 passengers travelling on Godan Express (Train 11055) from Mumbai to Jabalpur on 16th March in B1 Coach have been tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday.They came to India from Dubai last week. All concerned have been alerted to take necessary action.”