Refuting various media reports, the Railways ministry on Thursday clarified no action plan has yet been put in place for resumption of passenger train services after April 14, the last day of the 21-day lockdown. "The ministry of Railways has not issued any protocol regarding passenger travel during the post lockdown period, as has been incorrectly reported in some media reports. As and when a decision is taken, all stakeholders would be intimated. Please do not be guided by any misleading report," the Railways ministry informed on Twitter on Thursday.
The fresh intimation comes amid speculations that the Centre might extend the lockdown, as advised by various state governments, to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus positive cases continue to soar in India to 5,734, with the death toll at 166 on Thursday.
Earlier in the week, news agency PTI had reported, citing sources in the railways, that the national transporter has begun preparing to resume all its services from April 15. The report said that all railway safety personnel, running staff, guards, TTE and other officials have been told to be ready to join their posts from April 15. However, the report had added that trains will begin operations only after a green signal from the government which had formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue.
The railways source had also added that the Railways has issued a "restoration plan" to all 17 railway zones with a schedule of trains to be run, their frequency and the availability of rakes.
In addition, last week, the Railways had clarified on Twitter that ticket booking for the post lockdown period was never stopped. "Certain media reports have claimed that Railways has started reservation for the post-lockdown period. It is to clarify that reservation for journeys post April 14 was never stopped and is not related to any new announcement," the ministry tweeted.
At the same time, all government machineries are focused on fighting the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the Railways informed that it has converted 3,250 coaches into COVID-19 isolation units with beds. A total of 5,000 coaches have now been converted to isolation units. In addition, it has produced about 6 lakh reusable face masks and over 4,000 litres of hand sanitiser.
