No plan to withdraw any train: Railways

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, April 23

In the wake of exodus of migrant workers from Punjab fearing another lockdown, Northern Railway has made it clear that there were no plans to cut down or withdraw any of the 103 pairs of trains carrying passengers from various places under the Ferozepur Division to destinations across the country.

Rajesh Aggarwal, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Ferozepur Division of Northern Railway, said as many as 67 pairs of Covid-19 Special Mail and Express, and 37 pairs of unreserved mail, express and passenger trains were operational from several railway stations in the division.

Giving more details, he said a total of 29 pairs of mail and express trains were ferrying passengers from Amritsar to Indore, Nagpur, Nanded, Kolkata, Howrah, Sealdah, Bandra Terminus, Haridwar, Newjalpaiguri, New Tinsukia, Korba, Saharsa, Darbhanga, Jaynagar, Katihar and Kanpur.

Similarly, 13 pairs of mail/express trains were also operating from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, 16 pairs from Jammu Tawi, four pairs from Udhampur, three from Ferozepur Cantt and two from Fazilka. The two trains from Fazilka are ferrying passengers to distant destinations in the country.

Aggarwal appealed to migrants not to pay heed to rumours about the discontinuation of train services. All intending travellers could seek reservation of tickets for visiting their native places on need basis but there should be no cause for panic-travelling owing to lockdown.

“However, all passengers ought to take all precautions such as washing hands, use of sanitiser, wearing face mask and maintain social distancing to save themselves from coronavirus,” he added.

The DRM added that to avoid overcrowding at busy railway stations, price of tickets at railway platforms has been increased by Rs 50 at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Amritsar, Jammu Tawi, Jalandhar City, Udhampur, Pathankot Cantt, Jalandhar Cantt, Phagwara, Beas and Ferozepur Cantt. The sale of tickets at Ludhiana railway station has been temporarily suspended. Travellers are advised to purchase tickets online.

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