In light of “Janata curfew” announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contain the spread of coronavirus , Railways said on Friday that it has cancelled 3,700 trains and no passenger train will originate from any railway station in the country from midnight to 10 pm on Sunday.
On Thursday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for a day-long people’s curfew on Sunday in a drastic step by his administration to prevent a surge in Covid-19 cases. In his address to the nation, Modi asked citizens to voluntarily stay indoors from 7am till 9pm on Sunday.
The railway order said,”All passenger trains originating between midnight of March 21/March 22 to 22:00 hours of March 22 (approximately 2,400 services) shall not be run. However, the passenger train services already on run at 0700 hours on the day will be allowed to run to the destinations. Divisions should keep a watch and trains which are empty could be short terminated, if required,” Suburban services in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Secunderabad shall be reduced to a bare minimum level only to cater to essential travel.
The order further said, sufficient arrangements may be made to ensure hassle-free refund to passengers affected by train cancellations. Zonal railways will order special trains to clear rush of passengers where needed who may be stranded at stations despite advance public notice.
Railway Ministry has already cancelled more than 300 low occupancy trains up to March 31 to discourage non-essential travel and overcrowding of trains.
