Railways cancel 52 pairs of trains citing high Covid-19 cases, low occupancy

The Indian Railways on Thursday announced cancellation of over 50 pairs of passenger trains due to rising Covid-19 cases and low occupancy in these trains.
Around 28 of these will cease to operate between coming Sunday and Tuesday until further notice, as per a list issued by the Northern Railway division.

The Central railway division also announced further cancellation of 24 trains that were cancelled up to 10th May, till 30th June, on account of "poor patronisation."

A senior official ET spoke with said that the move is part of an ongoing rationalisation exercise.

India is in the midst of a 2nd wave of Covid-19 which is rampaging the country, pushing its healthcare system to the edge. While the Centre has been against a nationwide lockdown, several State governments have announced partial or complete lockdown measures to control the spread of infections.

“We keep doing this exercise even in the normal course of time, and Covid may not be the main reason behind the cancellation,” the official said.

“Some of these trains were holiday specials which will now be discontinued,” the official said.

Ahead of the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 in 2020, the Indian Railways completely halted passenger operations, which was a first for the National transporter.

While trains gradually resumed operations in June last year, full fledged operations have still not begun.

As of last week, around 70% of passenger trains were in operation.

The list of trains to be cancelled includes 28 pairs of trains, half of which are Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi specials.

Asked whether more trains are likely to be cancelled by other railway zones, the official said that the railway ministry will intimate if such a decision is taken, adding that speculation must be avoided at this juncture.

The sudden lockdown announced in March last year left thousands of migrants stranded as businesses and industries shut down.

The Northern Railway division has called for prior intimation regarding cancellation of said trains through messages, advertisements and announcements at railway stations, among other means.