New Delhi : Almost 48 days after suspension of all passenger train services amid the coronavirus pandemic, the two special air conditioned train departed from New Delhi on Tuesday evening, officials said.
A senior Northern Railway official said that the first train with over 1,400 passengers departed at 4 p.m. for Bilaspur while the second train took over 1,200 passengers on way to Dibrugarh at 4.45 p.m.
According to Northern Railway officials, the restoration of passenger train services started on Tuesday in a graded manner. The passenger train services had been suspended since March 25.
Chairman Railway Board Binod Kumar Yadav arrived at the New Delhi railway station to take stock of the railways preparations ahead of the departure of the train.
Speaking to media, Yadav hinted that in the coming days, the national transporter will run more trains.
He said, besides, Shramik Specials, a second sleeper class is also ready. Stranded tourists and students are being focused on as of now.
Passengers had started arriving at the New Delhi station since morning. Many people walked to the station in the absence of public transport.
Speaking to IANS, Gaurishankar, who lives in the Shahdara area, said he along with his family walked to the station to catch the train. “I want to go to the Chatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. But as there is no direct train for Chatarpur, me and my family will be travelling till Jhansi in the New Delhi-Bilaspur special train,” he said.
Shahnu Alam, a resident of Bihar, carried a confirmed ticket in the special AC train. “I came to Delhi for a job two months ago. I worked in a factory for 10-15 days. The unit was shut. I had no money. I borrowed from my friend to buy a ticket to return home.”
Nazia, a resident of Gopalganj, said due to the lockdown, she faced many issues in Delhi. “The children were fed up staying indoors all the time. I am happy to go back home,” she said.
The railways made adequate arrangements at the station, keeping in mind the social distancing protocol to combat Covid-19 pandemic.
Thermal screening of all passengers was done before entering the station and they were guided to their coaches. circle marks were drawn on the platform to facilitate social distancing.
Railway premises and platforms were sanitized at regular intervals to prevent infection, said Northern Railway spokesperson Deepak Kumar. Wearing masks was mandatory and passengers were encouraged to carry own blankets, water and food for the trip, he added.
He said both the trains got occupancy of 137 per cent and 122 per cent respectively.
He said AC temperature in the coaches would be kept slightly higher than the usual. The special trains would run at full capacity, he said, adding railway zones had been instructed to ensure separate entry and exit at stations to avoid contact among passengers.
He also said that the railway station was prepared well in advance with proper cordoning and barricading to ensure smooth movement of passengers with minimum exposure to the property.
The police had been deployed outside the station to control the crowd of passengers. Many volunteers were also guiding passengers and providing them water, face masks and gloves. The police first allowed families with young children in their arms to enter the station.
According to the railways, during the day one more special trains — for Bengaluru — will start from the New Delhi station.
Meanwhile, five special trains, in addition to the Shramik specials, will start from other cities for New Delhi.
The railways has issued a time-table for trains to be run between May 12 and May 20. These daily, weekly or bi-weekly trains will run between New Delhi and all major cities of the country — Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi.
