Though the number of reserved train passengers falling to just five lakh a day from around 20 lakh a day a month ago, Railways said it has no plan to completely suspend long-distance train services.
Already several zones have discontinued several regular trains, mostly long-distance ones, due to low occupancy. Since Covid-19 cases are increasing and several states are announcing lockdown, people are not traveling. Due to this, several trains are witnessing poor occupancy, said an official in the Railways.
Though several states have requested the Centre to suspend the services of unreserved passenger trains and inter-city trains, none of the states has requested to stop long-distance trains, said the official.
"Cancellation and restoration of trains are a dynamic process. Each year, many festival and holiday special trains are started and after some time services are suspended. There is a constant process of optimisation and rationalisation. Some regular trains with lower occupancy are discontinued," said the official.
For the past few days, the Northern Railways, Central Railways and Eastern Railway and South Western Railways have canceled the services of several trains.
(Published 07 May 2021, 11:42 IST)
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