The Indian Railways has started bookings for passenger trains from April 15 onwards as the 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ends on April 14, The Economic Times reported.
A senior government official said as per the report that bookings will be accepted by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) from April 15, “naturally when the lockdown is till April 14”, but added that passenger train operations may not resume entirely.
Passenger services were discontinued from March 22 till March 31, even before the lockdown was announced, but goods trains are operating as usual.
It will now “gradually” begin the passenger services from April 15, the official added.
Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on April 1 asked the railways to make supply services available on more routes for quick transportation of medicines, essential equipment, and foodstuff. Notably, around 9,000 goods trains are operating despite the lockdown on passenger trains.
The Ministry has said that special parcel trains are operational on eight routes and they plan to add another 20 across zones, as per the report.
Today is the ninth day of India's 21-day lockdown. The total number of confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in India stands at 1,834. The Union Health Ministry has said that 41 people have died due to the virus.
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