The cancellation of the trains coincides with the 'Janata
Curfew', which was announced by PM Narendra Modi during his address to the
nation on Thursday.
All trains expected to start between 12:00 am
to 10:00 pm on Sunday have been cancelled
The Indian
Railways on Friday announced the cancellation of over 3,700
passenger locomotives and long-distance mail, express trains, which were
scheduled to start their journeys on Sunday. The cancellation of the trains
coincides with the 'Janata
Curfew', which was announced by PM Narendra
Modi during his address to the nation on Thursday.
"No passenger or
express train will originate from any railway station on the country between
Saturday/Sunday midnight to 10:00 pm on Sunday," said the order issued by
Indian Railways.
The order also said that
intracity rail services in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Secunderabad will
be reduced to a bare minimum number of trains, which should be enough to cater
to essential travel. The Indian Railways has given the power to each zone to
decide by how many trains they would allow to run in their areas on Sunday.
The order issued by the
Indian Railways will lead to the cancellation of around 2,400 passengers trains
as no train would be allowed to start its journey from 12:00 am on Sunday till
10:00 pm.
The order also said,
"However, the passenger train services already on run at 7:00 am on Sunday
will be allowed to run their destinations. Divisions should keep a watch and
trains which are empty could be short term terminated if required." This
means that trains that start their journeys before midnight on Saturday and are
still running at 7:00 am on Sunday would be allowed to complete their journeys.
Over 1,300 long-distance
mail and express trains will also get cancelled as per the order issued by the
Indian Railways. The Railway
Board has issued directions to all zones that passengers already
travelling in trains during the shutdown should not face any hassle.
"Adequate arrangements may be made to facilitate hassle-free refund to
passengers affected by tarin cancellations," the order said. The Railway
Board has also allowed divisional managers to run special trains if they find
it necessary to do so.
The 'Janata Curfew', the
social distancing campaign announced by PM
Modi, will be observed from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm on March 22.
Tags
Economy