COVID-19 lockdown: East Central Railway gears up for departure of first passenger train to New Delhi

The East Central Railway is geared up for the departure of the first passenger train to New Delhi, after a halt of nearly two months, from the state capital on Tuesday, officials said.

Explaining the facilities and rules for passengers at the boarding station, Rajesh Kumar, CPRO, East Central Railway said, "The train is scheduled to depart from Rajendar Nagar station and will then take passengers from the Patna Junction for New Delhi. All passengers are requested to reach their boarding station at least 90 minutes before time, health screening of the passengers will be done at the stations."

"An adequate number of medical teams will be deployed for health screening of passengers. Only people who do not have any symptoms of the disease will be allowed to board the train even if they have confirmed tickets," he added.

He also said that usage of face masks and downloading the Aarogya Setu App, as advised by the Ministry of Railways earlier, is mandatory for all passengers.

The CPRO confirmed that no linen, blankets or food will be provided to the passengers in the course of the journey, but water and some packaged snacks will be provided to them en route.

"All trains have 1AC, 2AC and 3AC coaches, no linen or blanket will be provided to the passengers, however, the temperature setting of the AC will be controlled for the convenience of the passengers," Kumar said.

Speaking about the route and stoppages of the train from Bihar's capital he added, "The train departing from Patna will have stoppages at Patna junction, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction, Prayagraj, and Kanpur Central (the last three in Uttar Pradesh). The same stoppages are there even on its return journey."

The Indian Railways is set to partially resume its passenger train operations from Tuesday after over one and a half months of halt owing to the COVID-19 lockdown in the country.

The Railways had continued to run freight trains during the lockdown period to ensure that the supply of goods and commodities around the country.

On May 10, the Indian Railways said it will run 15 pairs of trains and that bookings for 15 passenger trains will start from Monday. 

-ANI

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