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Railways clarifies on service resumption; says decision yet to be taken

The Indian Railways had suspended all passenger train services during the lockdown period to fight the COVID-19 pandemic

April 10, 2020 / 17:50 IST

India has been under a 21-day lockdown, which will end on April 15. Amid this, the Ministry of Railways has issued a clarification stating that the dates for resuming rail services have not yet been finalised.

The Indian Railways had suspended all passenger train services during the lockdown period to fight the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic. However, freight and parcel train services continued to make sure the supply of essential items was not hampered.

To track all live updates from the coronavirus pandemic, click here

In a statement, the Ministry of Railways said, "During the last two days, there have been some reports in the media about various protocols of prospective travellers by trains. They have also been mentioning about number of trains starting from a given date. Final decision regarding the above matters is yet to be taken."

The government stated that the Railways would take a decision based on the interest of all stakeholders, including passengers.

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On April 5, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a video conference with Chief Ministers of all states to review the current lockdown and discuss plans for extending the same, considering many states have favoured the extension beyond April 14.

The number of positive cases have risen to 6,412, with 199 deaths in the country so far.

Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here

Moneycontrol News
first published: Apr 10, 2020 05:50 pm

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